Untamed
by Crying Raven
Summary: Piccolo is accustomed to being alone. And he thinks he likes it that way. But now there is someone with him. Someone that might care enough to stay. Will Piccolo take a chance and let her in his heart? :Might start out slow but it picks up:
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

Authors note: I started writing this story purely for my own enjoyment. And on a whim after rewriting the beginning I thought maybe I should post it.

If no one reads it that's fine. It will be no skin off my back. I will continue to write it because I enjoy doing so.

So if you like romance and you love Piccolo you might enjoy my story.

_**Prologue**_

There was no light, no feeling, in the place where Justine floated.

She had no idea how long she had been in this hell. All she knew, was that with every minute that ticked by unchecked, she became more determined, not to give him what he wanted.

Dr. Gryphon was the one who had put Justine in her own personal purgatory. By giving her an injection of a drug that induced the inability to move or feel.

Combine that with a heavy blindfold, earplugs, and hours of waiting, you have Dr. Gryphon favorite form of torture.

He said it was the best way to get results form Justine. He also said all she needed was time to think. And that was why he called this procedure the "Think Tank". He had seen Justine's telepathic and empathic abilities increase tenfold since he had began implement this kind of stimulation.

Of course he was doing all of this for Justine's benefit. After all Justine was a sick girl and she needed guidance.

Back in the "Think Tank" Justine had only her own heartbeat to assure her of her own existence.

_How long have I been here?_ She asked herself. But she wasn't referring to the time she had spent in purgatory. She wandered how long she had spent as Dr. Gryphon's patient.

Had it been ten years? Had it been more?

She didn't know.

There was no way to tell without having the dates marked. And she hadn't seen a calendar sense she had been admitted to the hospital.

It felt like it had been a lifetime.

For some hours now she had been fighting the need to urinate. She knew, she couldn't hold it for much longer. And that meant soon, she would be laying in a pool of her own piss.

_I don't care what you do to me Gryphon I'm not going to play the part of your lab rat anymore. And the next time you let your guard down I'm going to kill you._


	2. Chapter one

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

_**Chapter one**_

Piccolo's eyes snapped open.

Somewhere to the West a unfamiliar ki was rising. The ki wasn't very high in comparison to himself. But it did seem high enough to do some damage.

Just as he was deciding to fly over and investigate. The sound of a large ki blast rumbled like thunder.

"Shit." He spat as he rose swiftly into the night sky.

It took him only moments to reach the site of the blast.

Piccolo recognized the place. It had been some kind of large building out in the middle of nowhere.

He had no idea what it had been for. But he had never payed much attention to humans or their buildings.

Whatever it had been for didn't matter now because it was gone.

It had been blown to bits. All that was left was a smoking heap of rubble.

Piccolo landed so he could search for survivors.

He sensed the same ki that had made the blast but it was fading.

Quickly making his way through the rubble he came upon where the ki blast had originated. It had made a good sized crater in the ground.

He had expected to find someone standing in the center of the bowl shaped cavity. But instead he found only a slumped human form.

As Piccolo approached, he could see no signs of life, and he thought perhaps, the person was indeed dead.

As he eased the still form onto it's side he noted that he was looking at a girl. Her thin hospital gown stuck to her body in bloody patches. And Piccolo was a bit surprised when the girl took a gasping breath.

He could tell by the gurgling sound she was making her lungs were filling up with fluid.

He knew she had only a short time to live. So his decisions had to be swift. He couldn't let her die without trying to save her.

In moments he had her body wrapped in cape and tucked in to his big arms.

"Just hold on Kid." He rumbled.

Piccolo flew through the air at a breakneck speed. He was hoping to make it to Kames lookout before the girl died. Piccolo was counting on Dendes healing abilities to save the girls life.

The Namek didn't bother reserving his energy. He poured everything he had into his speed. Subsequently causing him to reach Kame's lookout in record time.

Piccolo was shouting for Dende even before he had landed. But the Young Namek must have sensed Piccolos fast approach because he was already running out to meet him.

Dende couldn't suppress the gasp of shook when Piccolo unwrapped the girl and placed on the floor of the lookout.

Without a word the Dende began trying to mend the girls battered body.

He hadn't gotten very far when the girl suddenly regained consciousness and tried to shove his hands aside.

"Hold her!" Dende commanded Piccolo.

But when Piccolo knelt down, to hold the girl, it only upset her more, she began trying to drag herself away.

_Ok maybe she wasn't as close to death as I thought._ Piccolo told himself as easily subdued her.

"Just hold still kid." Piccolo found himself saying. "You're going to be ok. But you have to keep still so Dende can heal you."

Dende gave Piccolo a surprised look, he had never heard Piccolo use such a gentle voice.

Piccolo looked down into the girls frightened eyes. They were oddly colored, the center of the irises being a deep violet, and the rims were bright green.

Piccolo didn't break eye contact with her until she had fallen back into unconsciousness.

"She'll sleep for awhile now." Dende said with a heavy sigh. "I was able to fix everything and I urge her mind to rest."

"Do you have any idea what happened to her?" The small Namek asked Piccolo.

"No, I just found her like this." Piccolo answered.

"I guess we can ask her when she wakes up." Dende murmured.

"Well then, come on, lets get her cleaned up, and in a bed." Dende said

Piccolo gently picked the girl up and fallowed Dende into the palace.


	3. Chapter two

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

Author's note: Ok here is it my second chapter. Thanks for the reviews I have received. And a big thank you to Kaekokat. Without your encouragement I wouldn't have thought my story was worth reading.

_**Chapter two**_

A full day passed before the girl regained consciousness. Dende had been the only one to speak with her. Because she had fallen back to sleep before Dende could inform Piccolo.

Being the kind heart that he was. Dende hadn't pumped her for any information past her name and how she was feeling.

Dende was now speaking to Piccolo in the hallway outside where the girl was sleeping.

"So we know next to nothing about her." Piccolo grumbled.

"That's not true." Dende defended. "One. We know that her name is Justine." He began ticking his fingers to illustrate as he spoke.  
"Two. We know that her head has been shaved almost balled"  
"Three. We know that she has pretty eyes"  
"Oh and we know that she has cute pointed ears." He said cheerfully. But his good humor was wasted on the ever stoic Piccolo.

"What I know is that she killed several people." Piccolo said grimly "But what I want to know is 'why."

There was a long pause in the conversation and then finally Dende spoke.

"Piccolo, I didn't say anything before because I didn't know if I should tell you or not." Dende began.

"Well?" Piccolo prompted.

"The girl er Justine. Not all of her injuries were new. Some of them were weeks old."

"Eh." Was all Piccolo said.

"And there is something else." Dende added. "She had enough drugs in her system to put someone your size out for days."

"Yeah I seen the needle marks on her arms." Piccolo rumbled. "But how do you know it was drugs?"

"I can feel those kinds of things when I'm healing someone." Dende answered "I even know how many broken bones someone has after they are mended."

Dende sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. They had been burning for the last ten hours. He knew he needed sleep but he didn't want to leave Justine unattended.

Piccolo looked down at the obviously weary Namek.

"Where the hell is Popo." Piccolo asked.

"He went to help a small town near Cental Capitol with epidemic they are having. He and I have been taking turns staying at the lookout and nursing the ill."

"In that case, you go get some sleep, I can watch the kid." Piccolo said showing a rare glimpse of his kindhearted side.

Dende was floored. "Are you sure?" He asked and turned to look fully at the tall green man.

"Yeah. She will probably sleep through the night anyway. I won't mind watching her."

"Ok then wake me up if you need anything." But Dende hesitated to leave for his bedroom.

"Go to bed Dende." Piccolo said firmly.

"Right, see you in the morning." The young Namek said just before he went into his room.

Piccolo quietly opened the door to the where the girl slept. His footfalls made no sound as he approached the bed.

Once he had reached the bedside he dropped gracefully into the lotus position.

There was a small oil lamp burning on the bedside table. It cast Justines sleeping form in a soft amber glow.

Even though, he had been the one to help Dende clean her up, and dress her in a white cotton gown.  
Piccolo hadn't really had the chance to look at her.

Her face was heart shaped with a upturned nose. Her lips were full and the corners turning upward just a hair.  
Her skin was a pale white as if she had never been out of doors. And from what he could see of her short hair it looked like a dark shade of brown.  
Her ears were indeed pointed as Dende has said. They looked much like a feminine version of Nameken ears.

Before he even realized what he was doing he lightly touched her cheek with the backs of his knuckles.  
When she murmured something in her sleep and he quickly snatched his hand back. He didn't know what made him more uncomfortable. The fact that he felt a tingle in his hand when he touched her. Or the thought of her waking up and catching him touching her.

Piccolo held his breath for a few moments waiting for Justine to waken. But in the end she only rolled onto her side.

Piccolo was hoping she wouldn't wake up on his watch. He knew the reaction women tended to have when they first seen him. It was always ether fear or distrust.  
When he had been young he had told himself that he liked people fearing him. That he liked the power he held over humans.

But things were different now. And he found, it had been much easier, to be accepted as evil, then to be accepted asgood.

The lamps flame flickered, then died, leaving the room in complete darkness.

Piccolo closed his eyes thinking he could doze for a bit.

He had just started drifting off when a shrill scream assaulted his sensitive ears.

The scream was swiftly stifled by it's maker. While Piccolo cussed a blue streak and did the only thing his could think to do (fumble blindly for Justine)  
Suddenly Piccolos huge hand was grasped by Justine's small one. And before he realized what was happening, both her hands had griped his collar, and she had pulled herself, into his lap.

Piccolo froze. He couldn't move as he felt Justine's thin arms twine around his neck. Her face pressed in the crook of his neck and shoulder. Her tears were hot on his skin.

Piccolo couldn't force his mind to think. So he set, immobilized, with one hand gripping the bed sheets, and the other suspended in the air, just above her back.

Just then Dende threw open the bedroom door. And the hall light poured forth into the dark room.

"What is it?" Dende asked as he rushed in. Then he stopped short at the sight of Justine in Piccolo's lap, holding on to him, as if she were drowning.

Piccolo looked as if he were being terrorized.  
Had Dende not been concerned for Justine he might have laughed at the expression on Piccolos face.

Dende put his hand on Justine's thin shoulder and called to her softly. She didn't respond immediately but after some coaxing she got off of Piccolo's lap.

"Justine do you remember where you are?" Dende asked softly.

"Yes." She answered then added. "I'm sorry that I disturbed you. I woke up and the light was out. I didn't know where I was."

"For a second I thought I was back there... With... With Gryphon."

"Is this Gryphon the one that hurt you?" Dende asked.

For a full minute there was no response. Then ever so softly she whispered. "I killed him" "Dear Lord I killed him." Now her words were more like a whimper but she continued.  
"Didn't really know I could do that, I got so angry, and then it just happened"  
"His face.. His brains... they splattered on me!" She suddenly rubbed her face, then looked at her hands, checking for remnants, of the nightmarish events.

"I killed them all."


	4. Chapter three

Disclaimer: You know the drill.  
I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

Authors note: I tried to use this chapter to do a little bit of explaining about Justine.  
And also I wanted to demonstrate how Justine is slightly stunted in maturity. (because she was locked up for nine years)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter two. And I hope you enjoy this one as well.

**_Chapter three_**

The day couldn't have been more beautiful. The sky was a deep vivid blue dotted with white fluffy clouds. There was a crisp autumn breeze in the air that tugged playfully at Justin's new growth of hair.

It had been almost four months since Piccolo had brought the girl to the lookout. And after the first week, it had become apparent, that Dende, and Mr. Popo, had accepted Justine as family.

With their care and attention Justine had made a marvelous recovery from her injuries both inside and out. But at times, Dende would look at her, and catch a haunted expression in her eyes.  
If he asked her what she was thinking, she would put on a smile for him, and say it was nothing.

As Justine stood at the edge of the lookout, that sadness in her eyes would have been evident to anyone who seen her.

The wind picked up and Justine savored the feel of the it's freedom and savagery. _"I wish I could fly._ She mused. _I think It would feel like being truly free."_

She stepped even closer to the edge and put her right hand out to feel a exceptionally strong updraft.  
Suddenly, her left hand was grasped in a iron strong grip and she was pulled around to come face to face with unhappy Piccolo.

"What the hell are you doing?" He growled. "Do you have a death wish?"

"No, I..I" She couldn't find a way to answer him without sounding silly.

"What if I hadn't been here and you fell?" He thundered.

"I didn't mean to do anything wrong. I'm sorry." She said softly as she met his hard black eyes.

"Just keep your ass away from the edge." He snapped.

"Fine." She retorted and moved her chin up another notch.

A moment before he took to the air, and disappeared over the horizon, Justine noticed that he was carrying a large satchel bag.

_"What would Piccolo need a bag for?"_ She wandered.  
He had always been completely self-sufficient. Because he didn't need to carry food or clothing.

"Oh well I'll probably never know." She mused as she turned to go inside.  
Inside the lookout Mr. Popo was cooking something that smelled amazing. While Dende set reading a book.

"What was Piccolo doing with a bag?" She asked absently.

Dende just shrugged and said "I don't know much about it." "Do you know anything about it Mr.Popo?"

Popo turned around with a big wooden spoon in his hand. He used the spoon to make gestures as he spoke. "All I know is that for about two years, he has been coming here, and filling that bag with food"  
"He just comes in and says 'I'm taking some food' Then he leaves."

Justine gave Popo a confused look. "But what would he need the food for?" She asked.

"I think Kami knew, but he didn't say anything to me about it." Popo answered and went back to stirring his food.

"Oh well it doesn't matter I guess." Justine said with a sigh.

"Why don't you just ask Piccolo the next time he visits." Dende suggested.

"Oh yeah I can see that." Justine laughed "Hey Piccolo, why are you taking food with you?

"What's that? You want me to mind my own business?" She said tongue-in-cheek

"Yeah I can see your point." Dende chuckled.

They set in silence for awhile then Justine asked.

"Hey Dende how about we play a game of chess before dinner?"

"Sure." Dende said and went to get the chess game.

Justine knew Dende had an affinity for games. And she had a affinity for making the young Namek happy. She had always wanted a little brother or sister.

She had lived in a orphanage until the age of ten. Then one day Dr. Gryphon had come and said he wanted to adopt Justine. He had promised young Justine that she would never want for anything. And that they would be like a family. For young and trusting Justine it had seemed like a dream come true. How wrong she had been.

She wasn't sure how he had found her. And how he had known about her gifts (as he had called them). But she assumed it had something to do with tests that she had taken at school.

For the first year or so she had held on to the hope that he really did care about her.  
He would tell her how wonderful she was. And how if she just cooperated with him. She would one day get everything she wanted.

But months turned into years. And from inside her cold gray room she knew that his promises had meant nothing.  
So she quit trying to please him, hoping he would grow tired of her, and send her back to the orphanage.

But her refusal to comply with his wishes had only made him more cruel.

Nine years she had been tortured, beaten, and mentally tormented. But never once in that time did she give in and show Dr. Gryphon the true extent of her power.

He had made the mistake of underestimating her. And in all those years of causing her anguish he had inadvertently been signing his own death warrant.

Justine switched her thoughts back to the present.

Dende was setting up the chess game, his little chubby fingers, carefully putting the pieces, in their places.

Justine was suddenly struck with a thought. Her abilities were dangerous, but neglecting them, was even more unsafe. What if she lost control again? What if she hurt Dende Or Mr. Popo?

She could live with killing Gryphon. But she could never live with herself if she hurt sweet little Dende.

"Justine what's wrong? You look so sad." Dende asked his voice filled with concern.

Justine looked at Dende through tears. She tried to say something but all that came out was choked sob.

"Don't cry." Dende said as he got up to comfort her.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asked and touched her head.

After a moment she got herself under control. She reached out and took Dende's small hand into her own.

"Dende I can't stay here." She said in a husky tone.

"What? Why?" Dende sounded flabbergasted.

"I can't put you at risk." She answered firmly.

"When I killed those people, I was out of control." "I can't take the chance, of that happening again, around you, or anyone."

"So that's it? Is that what has been upsetting you?" He asked.

"Mostly." She answered.

"Listen to me Justine." Dende said tenaciously. "Mr. Popo and I are much tougher then you think. And believe it or not Mr. Popo is much stronger then you."

"You couldn't hurt us if you wanted to." He assured her.

"But how do you know?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

"Just trust me." He said with a smile. "And, if it would really make you feel better, I can arrange for someone to train you. So then you would have better control of yourself."

"Really." She was unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.

"If that is what will make you happy it will be done." He promised.

"Thank you." She said and pulled him close for a hug.


	5. Chapter four

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Authors note: I keep forgetting to mention that this is not in the normal DBZ timeline. It's a parallel universe. So not everything with be happening the same as on the show.  
But the setting is much like that of the Buu Saga but without the Buu to mess things up.  
Also thank you for the reviews.

Enjoy and review!

**_Chapter four_**

Piccolo looked up from the sunny cliff where he perched. His senses told him Dende was flying in from the west.  
Piccolo watched as the young Kami landed only feet from him.

The Demon King quirked a brow-ridge when he noticed the determined set in Dende's jaw.

"Hello Piccolo."

"Dende."

"Um I have a favor to ask of you." Dende began.

"I'm listening." Piccolo muttered.

"Well Justine... You know...She ah." Dende stammered.

"I believe I'm familiar with the girl." Piccolo remarked dryly.

Completely oblivious to Piccolos sarcasm Dende plunged on. "I think it would be good for her if she had some guidance with her abilities."

"No." Piccolo cut in.

"But didn't finish." Dende protested.

"You don't need to. I already know what you're going to say." Piccolo observed.

"But you still need to hear what I have to say." Dende pointed out.

"You want me to train the girl right?" Piccolo enquired.

"Yes. And her name is _Justine_." Dende said unwaveringly.

"Feh, Then my answer is no." Piccolo said casually.

"I'm asking you as the Kami of earth." Dende said as sternly as he could.

"Find someone else." Piccolo grunted.

Dende felt a moment of panic. He had promised Justine she would be trained. And he had already asked Tien if he could do it.

Unfortunately Tien had declined saying he was no longer doing any kind of training.

Dende didn't know anyone else that was not tied up with other things. So that left Piccolo but the blasted Pickle wasn't even considering being helpful.

Then Dende developed an idea.

"Piccolo if you don't train Justine, I will tell everyone what you said about Chichi, when you got drunk off that spiked punch, at Gohans birthday party."

Piccolo's face became pale green then turned bright violet.

"I didn't know that stuff was laced with alcohol." Piccolo defended.

"But you said you don't remember a thing from that night." Dende said with a almost evil grin.

"You wouldn't dare tell anyone." Piccolo growled.

"Watch me." Dende affirmed.

"It wasn't even my idea to drink the damn stuff. Kami was the one that wanted to taste it so bad." Piccolo thundered.

"I'm waiting for your answer Piccolo." Dende said coolly.

"This is black mail." Piccolo grumbled.

"Maybe." Dende said.

Piccolo stood silently for a moment before answering

"Ok, but if she starts whining, or complaining about me being mean, I quit. I won't be a baby-sitter."

"Agreed." Dende said with a nod.

"Do we have a deal then." Dende asked.

"Feh, Yeah." Piccolo muttered

"Great! Come pick her up tomorrow morning." Dende said excitedly.

"Whatever, just get out of here before I change my mind." Piccolo grouched.

"Ok then bye." Dende said as he took off for the lookout.

Dende had put much distance between Piccolo and himself before he let the laugh escape his throat.  
In moments he was laughing so hard that he had to land.

He laughed until his legs could hardly support his body. So he set on the ground and pondered what he had just done.

He knew he hadn't precisely told a lie. But he had come close.  
He had actually used a play of words to make Piccolo do what he asked.

In essence Dende had bluffed.

It was a trick that he had learned from playing poker.

Piccolo hadn't really said anything about Chichi when he had been drunk. So that meant Dende wouldn't have anything to tell. But Piccolo didn't know that.

So it hadn't been a lie it had been a bluff.

_"And Justine says I don't have a sneaky bone in my body."_ He thought when he took off again for the lookout.


	6. Chapter five

Dislaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for this fanfic.

I'm not getting anything out of this. Well okay it's fun but that is all.

So don't sue me

Authors note: I'm sorry that I haven't been updating. I have been working two jobs so I have been very busy.

I realize this chapter is kind of choppy. So if anyone has any quick hints that would help I would be much obliged.

Please read and review.

Thanks.

Chapter five

The sun had not yet risen when Justine dressed for her first day of training.  
She put on a soft but sturdy under shirt. Then she pulled on her eastern style trousers called (chalwar). After tying her sash she put on her thobe which was a high collard robe like garment that buttoned in the front. Lastly she put on her upturned-toed slippers.

Her cloths had been a gift from Mr. Popo. He said they would keep her safe from overheating. And that they were made of very strong fabric.  
She could see how they would be a asset in the sun because they were all white. But she didn't see how they could possibly hold up to training with Piccolo.

Just before she left her room she picked up her bag of supplies It was chock-full of things that Mr. Popo had packed for her.

As she waited outside the lookout for Piccolo she was both fearful and excited.

She wanted very much to learn all she could about her abilities. But she feared felling Piccolo's training. He was so abrasive and hard. Surely his training would be hell.

_"I have never had a chance to do anything as a adult. This will be my first try at making a life for myself. I just hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew"_

She spotted Piccolo on the horizon just as the morning dawned.

He landed swiftly and approached her with long sure strides. He moved with such lithe animal grace Justine felt her breath catch in her troat. The sun played over his majestic features and for a moment his scowl didn't look so ferocious.

Justine was struck with a feeling of deja vu . Somehow seeing his face in this light seemed very familiar. But before she could stop and examine that thought Piccolo asked gruffly if she was ready.

"I just need to tell Mr. Popo and Dende goodbye." She said as she turned to go back into the lookout.

"We don't have time to stand around giving tearful goodbyes" He said gruffly and looped one big arm around her waste. Justine squeaked with shock as he tightened his hold on her waist and took off.

Piccolo had to bite his lip to keep from smirking at the way Justine was completely caught off guard.  
She grasped at his shoulder and collar as if she believed he would drop her.

Her bag was caught awkwardly between their bodies and Piccolo wandered briefly what she had picked that had made it feel so lumpy.

After about ten minutes of Justine fidgeting in his arms Piccolo finally halted in mid air.

"What the hell is your fucking problem!?"

"I'm not going to drop you. So just hold still and relax!"

"How I'm I supposed to relax with you screaming at me!" She shouted in his ear.

He gripped her by the front of her thobe and held her at arms length.

"Don't you ever do that again." He bit off.

"If you think I'm such a bitch then why did you agree to train me?" She growled.

"I didn't say anything about you being a bitch." He snorted.

"You didn't say it, She answered, but you thought it."

There was a brief moment of silence while Piccolo puzzled things out.

"You can hear what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"No shit Sherlock." She snapped. "That's why you were making me so uncomfortable."

"Dende didn't say anything about you being a telepath." He grumbled.

"Dende doesn't know." She answered. "And besides I only notice it at a very close proximity to people"  
"And by the way, contrary to your belief Piccolo, I don't plan on quitting the first day and running home crying." She said levelly.

"If you don't like me, that's fine, but don't judge me before you know me." "All I want is a chance, are you willing to give me that? She asked.

Piccolo didn't answer so she took his silence as a yes.

"Um I hate to be a pain but could you stop holding me like this? She said indicating his grip on the front of her thobe. "It's getting kinda hard to breathe.

Piccolo moved her to his right arm and waited until she got situated then he began flying again.

"What do you have in your bag?" Piccolo found himself asking.

"Lots of things." She said seeming to perk up.

"I have a compass and maps, flit rocks for making a fire.  
A weeks worth of food a clothing. And all my toiletries. Oh yeah and my bedroll."

"This isn't going to be some fun little camping trip." Piccolo pointed out.

"I know that Piccolo, I only brought things I need. She assured him.

Piccolo decided to let it drop. She would find out what training was like soon enough.


	7. Chapter six

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me. 

_Authors note: Wow I just wrote two chapters back to back._

_I was trying to build on Piccolos and Justine's relationship in this chapter.  
And if anyone is wandering Piccolo is asexual in my story. So you will just have to wait and find out how I work around that._

_Please read and review._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter six.**_

Crickets were chirping softly in the background as Piccolo let his body slowly relax.  
It had only been three days since Justine began her training. And Piccolo admitted that he had underestimated the girl.

He was still very uncomfortable around her. But he could see that she had great potential.

He was setting only feet away from where she was sleeping. (If you could call collapsing from total exhaustion sleeping.)

Not once had she complained that she had been tired, but finally her body had just given out, and she collapsed there in the grass.

Piccolo wandered if she was cold. And he thought perhaps he should just carry her to her bedroll.  
He was about to pick her up when she whimpered in her sleep. He jerked back not knowing what to do.

The grass was covered in dew and it was a fair bet that it would turn to frost before long. He didn't want the girl getting sick while she was intrusted to him.

Justine's whimpers became sobs and Piccolo felt a rising panic grip him. The last thing he wanted was a repeat of what had happened back at the lookout.

Her crying was so filled with sorrow that Piccolo felt his heart clinch. He knew he had to do something.

Kneeling over her he briskly shook her awake.

"Wake up you're having a dream." He said, trying not to sound gruff but failing miserably.

When she jerked awake Piccolo had to still himself not to jump back.

"I'm wet." she said dumbly.

"It's dew from the grass." He offered.

"Just dew?" She asked.

"Yeah Kid, you were dreaming. He answered her softly. "Now come on, I'll lead you to the campsite and build a fire to warm you up." He offered as he stood up.

Justine grasped his hand as she pulled herself up on wobbly knees. Piccolo didn't particularly welcome the contact but he was willing to put up with it.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you with my dream." She said quietly.

"We don't have control over what we dream about." He said absently.

"Know but I didn't mean to wake you or anything." She added.

"I wasn't sleeping."

"Oh."

He was leading her through a densely wooded area that was not far from their camp.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" She asked.

"Yeah. Besides I can see better in the dark then you." He answered

"I hate not being able to see where I'm going." She commented as she tightened her grip on his big hand.

Piccolo looked down at her small hand that clung to his. He was slightly surprised that he was even permitting the contact. But somehow he felt it would be more awkward if he forced her to let him go.

Soon they had reached the campsite and Justine let go of his hand.

Piccolo busied himself by making a fire. He took his time working the flames until they licked greedily at the pieces of dried wood. He was just putting the last piece on when he glanced up to see what Justine was doing.

She was standing with her back to him as she pulled off her shirt. Piccolo was in such shock that he forgot what he was doing. He didn't feel lust like a human would but the sight of a girl undressing in front of him was disturbing. As the shock of what was happening wore off Piccolo couldn't help but notice the numerous scars that covered her body. And he was reminded of something that Dende had told him about Justine's past.

_"They did awful things to her, and she was never allowed any privacy."_ Dende had informed him. At that time, Piccolo hadn't really been interested, but now, that bit of information explained a lot.

Piccolo felt himself flinch when he seen a particularly nasty scar on her left buttock. Next he felt a wave of anger at the monster that had violated her soft skin.  
The more violent part of Piccolo wished the culprit alive so he could kill him in a much more painful manner.

"I'm going to look for more firewood." Piccolo said thinking it better to leave, then to have her see him gawking at her.

"Okay hurry back." She said as she leaned over to pick up some article of clothing.

Piccolo stayed gone until he felt sure she must have gone back to sleep. He knew he was taking the cowards way out by just avoiding her. But he didn't know how to handle women. So that left him with no alternatives.

When he returned he found that she had made herself something to eat before she had gone back to sleep. The scent of food that he couldn't name hung heavily in the night air.

Then as he was taking a seat across from her he spied a ten cup setting on one of the stones surrounding the fire. When he picked it up he found it was filled with warm water. And it was obvious she had intended it for him.

He felt himself smile just a little as he downed the water.

Maybe having her around wasn't going to be so bad.


	8. Chapter seven

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

_Author's note: Well Here it is chapter seven. I had a hard time with this chapter. Mostly because I had several things that I wanted to happen. But anyway I'm fairly satisfied with it._

_Please read and review._

**Chapter seven**

Time passed just like it always does. Some days blurred into one another like changing seasons.

Justine worked so hard most days that it astonished Piccolo. And he marveled at her single minded drive to become stronger.

He had never met a female like her. She took everything he dished out and still demanded more.

She never once complained of his harshness. On the contrary, the only time she expressed complaints was when she felt he was being to easy on her.

She was impatient with her own weakness and she seemed to hate herself because of it.

She reminded Piccolo of Vegeta in that aspect.

"We're done for today." He announced and fell out of his fighting stance.

"No, I.. can do... more." She panted.

With her right arm she was holding the left side of her ribs. And it was obvious she could hardly inhale.

"We're done for the day." He said firmly having had this same argument with her before.

"Ok I guess you're right." She muttered.

"Let me see your ribs." Piccolo said as he approached her.

She obediently lifted the left side of her loose t-shirt, exposing a huge purple and green bruise.

"This is days old. Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded.

"It wasn't so bad until you kicked me there again today." She said simply.

"Feh."

"I think I'll go get cleaned up. Do you mind getting the fire started?" She asked as she let her shirt fall back in place.

He nodded, and headed toward the cave they had been camping in, since the weather had turned cold.

Justine walked the short distance to a stream that flowed down from the mountain top.

The water was cold and it made her flinch when she splashed it on her face.

She then took off her shirt and bathed her upper body with the freezing liquid.

Shivering she put her shirt back on and headed for the cave.

In the cave Piccolo had a fire crackling cheerfully.

When Justine walked in she still cold from her bath.

"What's this?" She asked when she spied several strips of cloth laying on her bedroll.

"To bind your ribs." He answered absently.

Justine set down slowly, trying not to jar anything.

When she was at last settled she picked up her bag and pulled out her clean shirt. It was tattered and stained but she didn't much care.

It was Friday so that meant Piccolo would take her to the Lookout in the morning, where she could rest and visit with Dende and Popo.

Inwardly, she felt a little relived that the week was over, and she would get a chance to relax without feeling lazy. But just once she wished that she could spend the weekend with Piccolo.

She knew that Piccolo, still took a bag of food from Mr. Popo's pantry, every time he dropped her off. But she didn't have the nerve to ask him why.

"_I have spent all this time with him and still I hardly know him."_ She mused.

Before she put on her clean shirt she decided to try and wrap her ribs. Thereupon she was struck with a idea. Why not ask Piccolo to stay at the lookout with her?

"Piccolo, why don't you stay with us at the lookout this weekend?" She asked.

"I have a pervious engagement." He answered not looking up from the book he was leafing through.

"Oh." She said simply not sure if she should press him.

The book he held was a new one that she had borrowed from Mr. Popo.

She usually borrowed a comics from Dende's collection. But the romance book had caught her eye that pervious weekend.

"How can you read this smut?" Piccolo asked yet still kept reading.

"It's not smut, it's romance." She defended.

"The male in this is sucking on the female's.." He trailed off obviously disgusted.

Justine has to stifle a laugh. "I'm sorry I didn't pick up a comic for you." She said with a grin.

"Why would I read that shit either?" He grumbled.

"Ok whatever." She said rolling her eyes.

She knew that piccolo read every comic that she had borrowed from Dende. What she didn't know was why Piccolo denied reading them.

Returning to her task at hand she pulled off her shirt so she could tie the bandages around her rib cage.

She was completely at ease with being nude around Piccolo. She knew he was asexual so she didn't have to worry about him getting any perverted thoughts. Besides she felt she had lost her modesty long ago.

Tying the bandage was proving to be a much more difficult then she had realized. She couldn't use her left arm much since extending it caused her enough pain that it made her arm weak.

The exertion of trying to get the bandage on was making her already tired muscles to scream in agony.

She was so focused on her task that she didn't hear Piccolo move next to her.

She almost jumped when his big green hand covered hers.

Wordlessly she let her hands drop and watched as his took over the task.

It was surprising how such huge hands could be so gentle. He had to re-wrap everything because she had not made it tight enough.

Justine let her gaze drift up to Piccolo's face. Because his head was bent, she couldn't see much more then the top, and his antennae.

She had decided previously that she held a fondness for his antennae. And now, seeing them only inches away from her face, she was stuck with a irrational impulse to touch them.

She was still arguing with herself about touching Piccolo, when she felt his knuckles accidentally, brush the underside of her left breast. A white hot bolt of sensation shot through her body causing her to jump.

"Hold still dammit." He barked.

Justine felt her cheeks burn. How could a small touch like that effect her so greatly? Piccolo obviously hadn't felt anything. She doubted he was even aware of what he had done.

Muttering under his breath about "damned females" Piccolo finished tying the bandages and set back on his haunches.

He noticed Justine's color flushed cheeks and assumed it was because he had accidentally touched her breast.

Piccolo felt his own cheeks heat a little and he hoped the dim light would not betray him.

He stood and walked outside for some fresh air.

Breathing in the cold air made it much easier to think.

Piccolo looked down at his hands. They still trembled from the feelings touching her had invoked.

Taking a few more breaths Piccolo felt his heart calm down a bit. He didn't know what it was that he was feeling. But he was sure that it wasn't natural.

_A quick note: The part where Piccolo is reading the book is one of my fonder memories of my ex boyfriend._

_He liked to tease me about my romance books and one time he picked one up and tried to read it aloud. Needless to say he embarrassed himself._

_Later, Raven._


	9. Chapter eight

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Dragon Ball Z. I only own the characters that I invented for the use in this fanfiction. I am not receiving any monetary gain for this fanfiction so please don't sue me.

Author's note: I hope this chapter is ok. I had a lot of fun writing it.

I was trying to start the romance off without doing to much to soon.

**Chapter eight**

Outside the cave it was storming and the wind was screaming like a banshee.

_Justine snuggled down deeper into the warm cocoon of her blankets._

"_Are you warm enough?" Piccolo asked._

"_Um hum." Justine answered drowsily. Then s__he felt herself being slowly lifted and placed into Piccolo's lap. _

_Contented with being so close to his strong body Justine lifted her arms to twine around his neck._

_She gasped when she felt Piccolo's warm hands slip under her t-shirt. _

_She didn't protest at his touch but welcomed it. _

"_Piccolo, I'm yours." She whispered as she felt him take the side of her neck into his mouth and suck gently. _

_His hand moved up until it cupped one of her small breasts and Justine felt her heart skip._

_This was where she wanted to be, with Piccolo like this, touching him, being touched by him._

_But like all wonderful dreams it didn't last, and soon Justine found herself jerking awake._

Jolted her from her slumber she to gasped and set up in her bed.

"It's just a storm, nothing to be frightened about." Piccolo's deep voice rumbled from somewhere in the shadows.

"I'm not scared." she said and hoped to sound convincing. In truth it hadn't been the storm that had shaken her nerves.

"Were you sleeping?" She asked trying to occupy her frazzled nerves.

"No." He answered simply.

"I like the rain." She said as she pulled her blankets around her shoulders. "The sound is soothing, even with thunder."

The lightning flashed and illuminated the cave for a moment. Justine took the opportunity to look at Piccolo.

The expression on his face told her something was amiss.

His eye's seemed to burn right through her even after the glow from the lightning was gone.

"What were you dreaming about?" He asked suddenly.

"_Oh lord, did I say something out loud?_ She groaned inwardly.

"_I think I remember saying his name at one point. Oh I hope he didn't here that!"_

"It was.. er. um. personal." She said finally.

"_Oh that's just great Justine, now he knows what kind of dream you were having." _

"Try to get some sleep." He said at last.

Justine lay back down and endeavored to relax. As sleep slowly reclaimed her she watched Piccolo when the lightning permitted.

Just being with him was enough she told herself. As long as she could be with him like this, she would be happy.

After Justine fell asleep Piccolo found himself moving to set closer to her slumbering form.

He didn't know how long he set there, just watching her.

Even in the dark Piccolo's keen eyes picked up every detail.

Almost every night she cried in her sleep. And it disturbed Piccolo that she was so unhappy even in her dreams.

But tonight she had been smiling instead. That was why he had asked about her dream.

"_What makes you happy?"_ He wanted to ask but he knew he never would. Such questions made him feel awkward.

Tentatively he reached out touch her face but he drew back at the last moment.

"_Your getting soft Piccolo."_ Him grumbled to himself in disgust.

Deliberately Piccolo got up and moved back to the other side of the cave.

"_After she's done with her training she'll just leave anyway. there is no point to caring about her."_

"_But you do care about her, don't you Piccolo?"_ Kami whispered from somewhere in Piccolos mind.

"_Shut up old man._ _No one asked you."_ Piccolo growled.

"_Whatever you say Piccolo."_ Kami chuckled

Authors note: I hope this chapter is ok. I flip flopped around a lot with the ending.

I was trying to start the romance off without doing to much to soon.

And I was trying to be reasonable about the way Piccolo would be feeling. Maybe not so much love as affection.

Dah I don't know. For some reason this chapter wanted to give me trouble.


	10. Chapter nine

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

Author's note: Thank you so much everyone for all the reviews. I know I said that I didn't think it would matter to me if anyone read my fanfic or not.

Well I was wrong. It does matter.

I hope you people like this chapter.

This chapter is dedicated to my best friend Jessica, who is a diehard Yamcha fan. (I hope you are pleased with the way I portrayed him)

_**Chapter nine**_

"SPLAT"

"_What a satisfying sound," _Justine mused as she watched her snowball victim turn to her with a glare.

Piccolo had been waiting for Justine to get up and pack her bag for the weekend.

He hadn't even turned to look at her when she had walked up behind him in the newly fallen snow.

Now he looked at her with a glare could have killed, and it subsequently caused her to stifle her giggles.

"Now Piccolo it was just a joke." She soothed as she watched him approach with intent.

A wicked smile spread slowly over Piccolo's face. "Your going to regret that." He breathed.

As he advanced Justine felt her nerve waver. She wasn't really frightened but she wasn't sure how Piccolo would react.

In the end she decided running was her best option. So with a squeal of exhilaration she dashed off into the woods.

Even as she ran Justine knew Piccolo could catch her with ease. But she didn't really care. The whole point of throwing that snowball had been to try and get Piccolo to have a little fun. She just hoped that he wasn't as mad as he looked.

Justine was still running when out of nowhere her face came in contact with a huge handful of snow.

Gasping in shock Justine wiped the frozen mass from her face.

When she opened her eyes Piccolo was towering over her with a very small smile on his lips.

"Now we're even pipsqueak." He said in a velvety tone.

Justine laughed and brushed the last of the snow away.

"Are you done screwing around so we can go?" He asked.

"I just need my bag." She chirped.

Piccolo nodded his acceptance and headed back to where she had dropped her bag.

When she fell into step beside him Justine sighed and looked around the snow covered forest. "I just love the snow." She said as she touched the snow-laden branch of a pine tree.

"Feh, snow has got to be one of the most annoying things on this planet." Piccolo grumbled.

The snow had fallen sometime in the night after the rain. Which had caused all the snow to be a sloppy mess more then anything.

At the entrance of their cave, Justine picked up her bag, it was full of her dirty clothes that she would have to wash at the Lookout.

"I'm ready." She said and lifted her arms to Piccolo as a invitation for him to pick her up.

Piccolo couldn't help but feel his heart warm at the sight of her lifting her arms to him. He marveled at the trust she put in him. No one except Gohan had ever trusted him so completely.

As he carefully lifted her into his arms his gaze met and locked with hers. She was smiling slightly and for the first time he could see that some of the sadness had left her eyes.

In seconds Piccolo was flying at top speed toward the Lookout.

He heard Justine gasp when he did a roll in the air. It was obvious that she enjoyed flying, so Piccolo didn't mind indulging her a little.

"That was awesome." She laughed gleefully. "Can you do more?"

"Later, when your ribs are healed." He answered.

"Alright but I'll hold you to that." She said.

"Sure thing kid." He replied

Later that day, Justine was in her room at the Lookout getting dressed after her shower.

Dende told her that someone named Bulma had invited them to a party at her place.

At first Justine had declined to go, saying that she wouldn't know anyone there. And that she would like to stay at the Lookout instead. But Dende had pleaded with her until she had finally agreed.

Justine put on her new pair of jeans and a t-shirt that Dende had made for her. She was just slipping on her boots when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in!" She called cheerfully and watched as Dende entered.

"Um, Justine, are you almost ready?" Dende faltered.

"Yeah, I'm coming." She replied.

"Ok, good, because Bulma is already here and she says that we need to hurry." He added.

"Kay, lets go then." Justine said with a smile.

Bulma was already outside waiting for them in her jet. And Justine was given a quick introduction while she climbed in and fastened her seatbelt.

"I hope you enjoy the party." Bulma said with a wink.

The trip lasted about an hour but Justine didn't have time to be bored, because Bulma took it upon herself to mention, and describe everyone who was going the party.

By the time they had landed at Capsule Corp Justine's head was swamped with names and descriptions.

The first person to greet them was Ms. Briefs, who ushered them into the den where all the other guests were mingling.

For the next half hour Justine was introduced to everyone that Dende knew. Most of which Justine could guess who they were just by the way Bulma had described them.

"You must be Gohan." Justine said when the black haired teen approached them.

"That's me." He answered with a smile.

"Dende has told me a lot about his adventures with you and Krillen." Justine added.

"Yeah we've been in some sticky situations." Gohan chuckled.

"I would just love to pick your brain about your training with Piccolo." Justine enthused.

When Gohan only made a questioning expression Dende hastened to add "Justine is being trained by Piccolo as well."

"Oh really." Gohan said as his brows furrowed. "He didn't say anything to me about it."

Justine didn't know what to say to that, but she did feel a little hurt that Piccolo hadn't even mentioned her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Gohan apologized.

"No you didn't upset me." Justine said and forced smile. "I guess I just need to develop thicker skin."

"Yeah you need a really thick hide if you want to train with Piccolo. He can be really tough." Gohan agreed.

After they chatted for awhile Justine noticed that Dende seemed a little detracted.

"Dende, you don't have to babysit me all night. Why don't you go and talk to some of your friends." Justine suggested.

"Are sure?" Dende asked.

"Yeah, you go have fun." She assured him. "I'll go find a dark corner to hangout in."

"Well ok, but try and have some fun." Dende said as he turned to leave.

"Sure thing." She said and gave Dende a thumbs up.

"Yeah right, how am I supposed to have fun with a room full of people that I don't know?" She mumbled to herself.

"You know, talking to yourself is not a good habit to start." A man to the right of Justine stated dryly.

Feeling herself blush Justine turned to look at the man beside her. He was almost as tall as she, but he fell short a few inches. His hair had been cropped and styled into small spikes at the top of his head, and was wearing a yellow blazer with matching slacks.

"Hi I'm Yamcha." He said as he held out his hand.

Justine took his offered hand, thinking he meant to shake it. But instead he took hers and brought it to his lips for a very debonaire kiss.

"I'm Justine." She said as she felt her cheeks heat even more.

"Justine, humm what a beautiful name." He drawled and flashed her a perfect smile.

At that Justine couldn't help but laugh."You certainly lay it on thick, don't you Mr. Yamcha."

Now looking crestfallen Yamcha let her hand go. "Awww and I thought I was doing so well."

"You were at first, but you're trying to hard." She said and stifled a giggle.

"Sorry, can we just start over?" He asked sheepishly.

"Ok." Justine said and smiled.

"Hi I'm Yamcha."

"Hi Yamcha, I'm Justine."

"Nice to meet you Justine. Do you mind if I talk to you for awhile?"

"I would like that." She answered.

They sat and talked for a few hours. And in that time Justine found that she really liked Yamcha. He was kind, and fun to talk to.

As the night wore on the party picked up, and Justine began feeling a little cramped by the growing crowd of people.

"I feel like going outside for some air would you like to come with me?" She asked as she stood up.

"Oh sure." Yamcha said and stood up quickly. Just then, someone bumped into Yamcha from behind, causing him to pitch forward, and dump his beer allover the front of Justine's white t-shirt.

"I'm so s, s, s, sorry." Yamcha stammered then he realized blatantly that she wasn't wearing a bra.

He abruptly took off his jacket at draped it over her shoulders.

"Come on I'll get you cleaned up."

Justine fallowed Yamcha through the mob of guests and into a dimly lit kitchen.

"Are you sure it's ok that we're in here?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah, don't worry. He reassured. You wait here and I'll go find you a clean shirt."

"Ok." She sighed, even though she thought a bathroom would have been a much better place to wait.

Justine wrinkled her nose at the unpleasant smell of beer that wafted up from her shirt.

"_Why do these things happen to me?" _She groaned inwardly.

She looked down at herself and gasped with horror. _"You can see right through this shirt!" _

"_Note to self, talk to Dende about making some bras."_

She Pulled Yamcha's blazer closer around her when she heard someone coming.

A short man with tall hair entered the room.

At first Justine wasn't sure that the man even noticed her. He went straight to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. While he was drinking, her half turned to look at her.

One of his thick eyebrows quirked as he took the carton away from his lips.

"Who the hell are you?" He questioned not bothering to hide the malice in his voice.

"I'm Justine. Who are you?" She retorted.

Deliberately he reached over a flipped on the overhead light, then he walked right up to her and openly stared.

"Impossible." He said after a moment.

"What?" Justine asked utterly confused by his answer.

Offering no explanation he continued to stare at her as if she had suddenly grown two heads.

His eyes narrowed when he finally spoke. "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, I'm here for the party." Justine said feeling all the more confused.

His eye's searched hers for a long moment before he finally turned away.

"Fine, but you watch _your_ step _Marah_." He said as he left the room.

"My name is _Justine._" She called after him but he didn't answer.

"What a nutcase." She finally muttered to herself.

After a few moments Yamcha returned, and directed her to a bathroom where she could to change into the clean shirt.

Even after she had changed Justine hesitated to leave the privacy of the bathroom. _"I shouldn't have come."_ She thought as she let her eyes drift shut.

She suddenly felt very tired and all she wanted to do was go home. But she was little surprised to realize that when she thought of home she didn't think of the Lookout. Instead she thought of a warm fire, her bed roll spread out beneath her, and Piccolo's comforting presence.

"Justine, are you alright?" Dende called from the other side of the bathroom door.

"Yeah I'm coming." She called.

"When she opened the door she found that Dende waiting for her and Yamcha was nowhere in sight.

"Where did Yamcha go." She enquired.

"He said he needed to go home because he has work in the morning." Dende replied.

"Oh."

"Bulma says she would like us to stay the night, and I told her we would." Dende said excitedly.

"Oh." Was all Justine could think to say.

"I hope that's ok with you." The young Namek added.

"No that's fine." Justine assured him even as she groaned inwardly.

"Great!" Dende laughed and took her hand. "I'll show you where you'll be sleeping."

"You know your way around?" Justine asked as she let herself be led down the hallway.

"I know my way around because I lived here for awhile." He answered.

The room he led her to was decorated in grays and blues. It had big double bed, dresser, writing desk and a spacious bathroom.

"Well I guess I'm going to call it a night." Justine said looking around.

"Are you sure? It's not really all that late yet" Dende asked.

"Yeah, but I'm really tired." She answered.

"Well my room is across the hall if you need anything." Dende said.

"Ok, night Dende." Justine said as she bent and kissed the top of his green head.

"Night." He said with a smile.

After he was gone Justine lay down on the bed. It was so soft that she felt her body sag deeply into it.

She let her eye's drift shut and her breathing slow. Soon she was asleep and dreaming of the place that she wanted to be.


	11. Chapter ten

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Author's note: I just finished this and either I'm so sleepy that it's impeding my judgement or this chapter is really done._

_I hope you people like this one. I'm actually fairly pleased with it._

_So please read and review._

_Lets hope I don't read this in the morning and say what was I thinking!_

_Well I just reread it and I guess it wasn't to bad considering that I wrote it running off caffeine._

_Enjoy._

**Chapter ten**

Justine rolled out of bed and groaned (the extra soft mattress had given her a backache.)

Dende had previously knocked on her bedroom door to wake her for breakfast. And he said that there were clothes for her in the dresser.

Yawning, she walked over to the dresser and opened a drawer. She found that it was filled with jeans ranging from size 6 to size 14. After picking her size 12 she opened another and found a wide assortment of t-shirts. In the top drawers she found packages of new underwear and socks.

She then scooped up the pile of clothes and decided to take a quick shower.

After she had showered and dressed she felt revived and ready for some breakfast.

Padding down the hallway in her socks she fallowed the scent of food to the kitchen.

Dende was eating with Gohan, Bulma, and Trunks at the table. And Justine smiled when she seen there cheerful faces.

It wasn't until after she had taken her set that she noticed the strange man from last night leaning casually against the wall across from her.

"Vegeta, come set down and eat." Bulma called to the man.

"_He's Bulma's husband."_ Justine realized.

She watched as Vegeta pushed away from the wall and pull up a chair directly across from her.

She could sense his eye's on her and she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something..

Slowly her tension built until she felt like she would snap in two. Determined not to be intimidated Justine looked up and met Vegetas hard black stare.

Not oblivious to what was happening, everyone at the table ceased eating and looked up from their meals.

Vegeta spoke first. "What are you doing here Marah?"

"I told you why I'm here." Justine said, carefully keeping her voice even.

"But you didn't answer my question." Vegeta stated levelly.

"I don't know what you want me to say." She declared, feeling exasperated. "You must have me confused with someone else, because I don't know who Marah is."

"I didn't say Marah is _who_, Marah is a _what_. He ground out. And I would like to know why a you are on this damned planet" Vegeta all but shouted at her.

It took a moment for Justine to absorb what he was saying.

"You think I'm some kind of alien?"

"You really don't know, do you?" He asked sounding somewhat subdued.

"I have no clue what you're talking about." She answered.

"Haven't you ever been curious about the differences of your body?" He asked.

Bulma suddenly broke in "Vegeta, surely you can't think she's a alien just because she looks a little different then most."

"Her looks wouldn't be the only difference." He added.

"What do you mean?" Bulma asked.

"Tell me Justine, have you ever mated with a human?" Vegeta asked. But when Justine didn't answer he continued. "And you know why you haven't, don't you? It's because you can't. Your body is incompatible with a human male."

The silence in the room was absolute, even baby Trunks held his tongue. Everyone waited for Justine to deny Vegeta's claim.

"How could you know that about me?" She asked finally.

"So I was right then." Vegeta sighed. "I had hoped... Never mind I'll just tell you, it's the least I can do."

He paused for a moment as if collecting his thoughts then he began to explain.

"About sixteen years ago someone named Frieza ordered all the Marah exterminated. Every man, woman, and child on the entire Marah home world was... Obliterated... All because they would not submit to Frieza's reign."

"I don't know why you're here, but you could be the last of your kind. And you have the right to know that." He concluded.

Justine said nothing, she couldn't quite wrap her mind around what Vegeta had said. How could it be true? This place, this planet, how could she not belong to it?

But deep down some part of her knew, had always known. She would never belong here, it was just like Dr. Gryphon had said, She would never have a life, never have a place in this world.

She turned to Dende, he looked so sad, so sorry. He was saying something and reaching for her but she couldn't hear him over the roaring in her ears. Suddenly she felt it, that same tide of emotion that she had felt before she killed Gryphon. _"Get away!"_ Was her only thought as she shoved passed Dende and headed for the back door.

She all but ripped the door off it hinges in her fight to put space between herself and the others.

Running blindly though the maze of buildings in the Capsule Corp grounds, Justine could feel her grip on reality slipping. She was suddenly reliving that moment when she had killed Gryphon.

He had caught her trying to escape, and he decided that her punishment would be electrocution.

He had three men hold her down while he tied her up strapped electrodes to her most sensitive areas.

For hours he had ranted at her while continuously torturing her.

He had said that she had no home outside of his control. And that there was no life for her away from him.

Then he had put his hands around her neck and slowly squeezed off her air. All the while commanding her to submit, and repeat his words. "You are nothing without me!... SAY IT!" He screamed wildly.

But she wouldn't, she was prepared to die for her last once of honor. Then she had felt it, the anger, it was so strong that it nearly blocked out everything. Yet it hadn't blocked out the sight of her crushing Dr. Gryphon's skull.

At first she thought that she was dreaming because she never touched him, he just seemed to break into pieces. And then slowly things began to crumble around her. She couldn't stop it, and she didn't want too.

Then there had been complete silence. She had thought herself dead because she couldn't see or hear. And so she had let go for the first time in years. She thought it was all over.

But then she heard a voice so rich and sweet, calling her to, asking for her to hold on.

She could hear him now, saying her name. And she felt his arms wrap around her, holding her tight.

His big strong hands touching her face, wiping away her tears.

She sobbed his name as she hugged his thick neck.

"It's ok Kid I've got you." He said as he lifted her.

"Piccolo." She choked out, hardly believing that he was there. "Piccolo, I..I.. Don't belong here." She cried.

"Feh, You and me both Kid."

"I'll take you to the Lookout. Everything's going to be fine." He assured her.

"No, I want to go home, I want to go to the cave with you." She whimpered.

"Alright then, let's go home."


	12. Chapter eleven

_Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. I only own the OC's in the fanfic._

_Author's note: Man this was hard one to pound out. But I was determined to get it done this weekend._

_And by the way Skysong13, I do like Fruits Basket, how could you tell?_

_And thank you for telling me that I'm doing Piccolo in character. I thought I was, but you just never know until someone says it._

_Thank you everyone for your reviews._

_I hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter eleven.**

Justine stared into the flames of the campfire without really seeing them.

Hours had passed since the incident at Bulma's house. And Justine's mind was still whirling with the facts that Vegeta had force-fed her.

Dende had come to check on her, and give her, her bag. But he hadn't stayed long once she had assured him that she was fine and that she didn't need anyone to fuss over her. (She felt extremely embarrassed about the trouble she had caused.)

Now with everything quiet again her mind wandered back to when Piccolo had found her earlier that day.

Dende had explained that he used telepathy to call for Piccolo as soon as Vegeta began to question her.

"_Piccolo must have been very close by, in order for him to get there that fast." _She realized.

Leaning over she pulled her bag up next to her so she could take out her small mirror. As she studied her own reflection she felt a deep sense of loss. Not for her true home planet, and people, but for the life that she might have had.

"_I'm so selfish." She thought. "How can I be thinking about myself when so many people died? __I should be thankful that I somehow survived." _

She got up and walked to the mouth of the cave where Piccolo had been standing for most of the night.

"Piccolo, I need to ask you a favor." She said hesitantly

He opened his eyes and looked at her, but otherwise made no other indication that he was listening.

"I need you to help me find the orphanage where I grew up." She stated.

When he made no reply she plunged on. "I kinda know where it is, but I can't get there by myself. And I was hoping you would help me."

He only nodded his agreement.

Slowly Justine let out the breath that she had been holding. Then before she even realized what she meant to do, she closed the few feet of distance between them, and wrapped her arms around his waist.

With her head resting on his chest, and his heart beating close to her ear, she whispered her thanks to him.

"Thank you Piccolo. Thank you for being my friend. And thank you for everything you have done for me."

Piccolo was lost for words, he had never dealt with anything like this before. So when she let him go and went back into the cave, he said nothing.

He pressed his hand over his heart, _"Odd."_ he thought. _"Why should it be beating so fast? _

"Morning." Justine called to Piccolo in the bright morning light.

"You overslept." He pointed out.

"Yeah I guess I did." She agreed as she stretched her arms above her head.

"It's almost 10:00." He added.

"What!" Justine gasped. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"No point in starting to train this late." He said, ignoring her question. "We might as well go looking for that orphanage of yours ."

"Now?" She asked dumbly.

His expression told her he was not going to bother answering such a stupid question.

"Right." She answered crisply. "I'll just grab my bag."

"Mind telling me where this orphanage is?" Piccolo asked when she returned with her bag.

"It's just outside Southern City." She said.

"Could you be more specific." He asked and quirked one eye-ridge.

"Well the address is 505 Pine Tree road, if that helps any."

"We'll find it." He assured and held out his big hand to her.

"Right." She agreed just before he scooped her up.

Once they were airborne Justine sighed as she settled into Piccolo's familiar arms.

"Do you think we should get some of the maps from the Lookout." She asked.

"I don't need a map." He grunted.

"Okay, whatever you say ." She muttered.

Piccolo wasn't going at top speed so Justine wasn't bothered by the backlash of air as much as usual.

She turned her head so that she could study his profile. After a while he took notice of her scrutiny and he gave her a sideways glance.

"What are you looking at." He rumbled.

"You." She said simply.

"Feh."

"Well, I like looking at you, what's wrong with that?" She asked and fixed her green and violet eye's on his.

He didn't answer. (She was making him uncomfortable, but he wasn't about to let her know.)

"How long do you think it will take us to get there." She asked while fiddling with the collar of his cape.

"About 45 minutes." He answered.

"You've gotten good at keeping me out of your thoughts" She commented.

"You're too nosey for your own damned good." He ground out.

"Hey, I've never listened to your thoughts on purpose." She defended.

"Yeah sure." He scoffed.

"Well, I have been tempted." She added. "But that's only because you never talk to me."

"What do you call what we're doing right now?" He snapped.

"I don't mean small talk." She huffed. "And you don't have to look at me like that." She said when he gave her a glare. "If you have something to say just say it."

"If you want to have a lengthy conversation talk to someone else." He answered finally.

It was on the tip of her tongue to say that she didn't want to talk to someone else, but she thought it better to keep quiet. (Sometimes you have to pick and chose your battles.)

Piccolo was trying not to notice that Justine's hand was tucked slightly under his collar and resting on his neck. But she on the other hand seemed completely unaware of the contact.

"The sky is very pretty today." She remarked.

He didn't reply.

Not to be put off she continued. "It will be so nice when I learn to fly. Then you won't have to tote me around" She said with a small laugh.

"If you learn how to fly I'll never be rid of you. You'll be fallowing me around like a lost puppy" He said in a tone more harsh then he intended.

"I'm not a child, if you don't want me around, you just have to say so." She said softly.

Piccolo wanted to take back what he'd said, but he didn't know how. Instead he held his tongue for the rest of the trip.

Once they reached the outskirts Southern City Piccolo flew closer to the ground.

Southern City was a large urban metropolis but the outskirts were much more rural.

Piccolo flew for about two miles across fields until he reached Pine Tree road. Then before Justine had time to speak. He took a left and began heading toward the orphanage.

"How do you know your way around?" She asked and gave him a quizzical look.

"Kami knows every corner and crevice of this planet." He answered.

"Oh, so he told to your where to go?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"That's handy." She said. "No wander you don't need a map."

Abruptly Piccolo landed outside a big iron gate that was covered in dead vines.

"This is it." Justine said more to herself then Piccolo.

With one jerk Piccolo pulled the gate open and stepped aside so Justine could enter.

"Wow Piccolo I didn't know you were such a gentlemen." Justine said with wide eye's.

Piccolo muttered something under his breath as he fallowed her through the gateway.

The house had obviously been abandoned for several years.

Justine felt a chill run up her spine when she stepped onto the front porch.

"I guess we should go in." She said but she hesitated at the door with her hand on the knob.

Suddenly she felt Piccolo place his hand on her shoulder, as if to let her know that he was right there with her.

Slowly she turned the knob, and she was slightly surprised to find it unlocked. With a loud creak the door swung inward.

Justine fished her flashlight out of her bag and turned it on as she stepped over the threshold.

A barrage of memories flooded through her mind as she wandered into the old house.

"I used to draw over there." She said and indicated the area with the beam of her flashlight. "I drew a lot when I was a kid." She said wistfully.

Piccolo stayed silent as she wandered from room to room. Now and then she would smile slightly as if remembering something that had taken place long before her life had turned so hellish.

Piccolo fallowed her upstairs and into a room that was filled with old beds. Some of which still had thin mattresses still on them.

Justine looked up at Piccolo who waited in the doorway. "I don't know what I thought I would find here." She said quietly. "I guess I was hoping that Mama Willow would still be here, running the place just like when I left."

"I have so many questions that I would like to ask her. But she was old, even when I was a kid and she's probably.. Gone.. By now." She added unable to bring herself to say that the woman might be dead.

"I just wish I had something tangible that I could take with me." She said at last.

Then suddenly her head jerked up. "Wait, there might be something still here." She announced then left the room and hurried down the dark hallway.

Piccolo fallowed her to where she had opened a large closet. Inside it was mostly empty except for a few boxes. She pulled one down from the top shelf. And when she took the the lid off she gasped slightly as the beam of her flashlight revealed it's contents.

Justine smiled, the box was filled with things she had accumulated as a child. She pulled her old stuffed monkey (Bobby) from the box and set him gently to the side.

"Look it's my old sketch book." She laughed. "And the school work that I brought home."

Beneath the other bits a pieces of her childhood she found a yellowed newspaper clipping titled "Small girl found wandering in cornfield."

"That must have been me." she said as she skimmed the article, but it was vague and didn't hold anything of significance.

After a few more moments of sifting through papers Justine packed everything in her bag and announced that she was ready to leave. And in moments they made there way back down stairs.

"You know, the place is kinda creepy with everyone gone." She said as they walked out the front door.

Piccolo closed the door behind them and fallowed Justine down the front stairs.

She was holding her bag to her chest as if it held the most priceless treasures. Then she turned to look at him over her shoulder.

Piccolo's breath caught in his throat. She was smiling so sweetly while the wind played in her hair, making it curl around her face. And in that moment Piccolo felt the heavy wall around his heart tremble.


	13. Chapter twelve

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. If I did I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, now would I?_

_Authors note: Thank you everyone for your reviews._

_Please read and review._

**Chapter twelve**

"Vegeta, what are you doing setting here in the dark?" Bulma asked as she entered the parlor.

"What concern is it of your's?" He snapped.

"I was just asking." She defended as she rounded his chair so that she stood in front of him.

"I was thinking." He answered grudgingly.

"About what?" She pressed.

"What the bloody hell is this, an interrogation?" He demanded.

"Ok I can take a hint, I'll leave." She sighed and turned to go.

"You never asked me how I know what she is." Vegeta said before Bulma could leave.

"You mean Justine?" Bulma asked.

"Yes."

"I assumed that you had seen some of the Marah before they were killed." She answered.

"Of course your innocent mind would come up with an explanation like that." He sneered and got up to stand only inches from her.

"So that isn't the reason?" She asked not feeling the least bit intimidated by the intense look on his face.

"Oh I seen them alright." He all but whispered. "It was I who carried out Frieza's orders to obliterate them."

Bulma couldn't suppress her gasp of shock.

"Stunned, aren't you?" He asked. His lips had pulled back over his white teeth in a smile that seemed born from pain rather then joy. "Nappa and I killed them like insects. We even laughed while they screamed."

He reached out and grabbed her shoulders, gripping them tightly as he continued.

"I thought I could become something different then what I was back then. But now I see that I can't."

"No matter what I do I can't atone for the sins I have committed. They will always find me, and remind me of what Frieza has made me into."

Bulma reached up to cup his face, and the tears he seemed unaware of spilled down over the backs of her hands.

"I'm so sorry Vegeta." She sad around the lump in her throat.

"Haven't you been listening to me?" He said through clenched teeth. "I just told you I'm a murderer of millions."

"You aren't that man anymore." She choked out and rested her forehead against his.

He let her go when he suddenly realized how tightly he had been gripping her shoulders.

"I didn't mean to hurt you." He said softly.

"You didn't."

Gently, Bulma pressed her lips to his, tasting the salt from his tears. He slowly responded to her kiss as if he were unsure that he should except it. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he embraced her.

"_I want to be better for you."_ He thought but wouldn't say.

* * *

_Note: Alright I know that this is a very short chapter. But I hope it's a good one. And I will probably write two this weekend._

_And about Vegeta saying "bloody hell" well, I know that he might not say that on the show, but it just seems to fit him._

_Anyway I hope you liked it._

_Later, Raven._


	14. Chapter thirteen

_Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ._

_Good grief, it took me so long to get this one done._

_I hope it's to your liking._

_Please read and review._

**Chapter thirteen**

Three months later Justine was just beginning her ki training, though she was having a hard time picking it up.

It was fairly warm winter day. The sun reflected brightly off the crisp white snow. The time was somewhere around noon and Piccolo had told Justine to take a break from her training.

"What's eating you kid." Piccolo asked out of nowhere.

"Nothing." She said and flashed him a unconvincing smile.

While Piccolo didn't relish the idea of discussing feelings with Justine, but he had to know what was going on inside her head. Otherwise he wouldn't be able to properly train her.

"You're a shitty liar." He replied.

"Don't worry about it Piccolo, I'm fine." She assured.

Piccolo stared at her for a moment before nodding.

"If you're upset because the ki training isn't going smoothly, don't sweat it Kid you're doing fine."

"Thanks Piccolo, that means a lot to me." She said softly.

"I was just thinking." She began hesitantly. "What will I do after my training is done? Where will I go? I don't have any family, so I just don't know."

"I thought you meant to stay with Dende once you're done." He said.

"I don't want to live off him and Mr.Popo forever." She said with a frown.

"Why not?" Piccolo asked with a surprised expression. "Dende is disgustingly smitten with you."

Slightly taken aback, Justine gaped at the green man before her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, forget it." He snapped. (Somehow the thought of Justine leaving had set him on edge and made him say something unkind.)

Piccolo didn't want to think about her leaving. Odd, how accustom he had become to having her around.

It was just because he disliked change. He told himself. It had noting to do with the possibility that he might miss her.

"Dende and I are freinds. What's wrong with that?" She asked.

"Nothing." He grunted.

"Are you mad about something?" She asked peering at him with one of her innocent expressions.

"No."

"Are you sure?" She pressed.

He nodded.

"Ok good, because I was just thinking that I could really use a shoulder rub."

"Forget it." He huffed.

"Aww come on, it would really help me out. You know how tense I get."

"No."

"Please!" She asked with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Dream on."

"Awww Piccolo you know how much I love your massages." She pleaded.

"I should have never started do that in the first place." He grumbled.

He had started rubbing her shoulders for her a few weeks back, when she pulled a muscle in her neck. He'd been in a peculiar mood and to her surprise he offered to rub the sensitive muscle for her. Now it was to late to stop, she wanted a massage every time she turned around. And somehow she usually talked him into it.

"But you're so good at it." She said brightly. "And if you want, I can rub your shoulders afterward."

"I sure as hell don't want you rubbing my shoulders." He growled.

She only smiled.

"I'm not giving you one." He said firmly.

"Why not?" She asked with a frown. "Are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Can I have one later?" She asked.

Piccolo suppressed the need to slap himself on the forehead, _"She just doesn't give up."_

"Fine, turn around." He grumbled.

"You don't have to give me one if you don't want too." She said with her brows knitted.

"Will you make up your damned mind!" He shouted.

At that Justine quickly set down on his folded legs with her back to him.

When he first started kneading the muscle in her neck she let out a sharp hiss. Then she slowly relaxed into his strong hands with a long sigh.

"Lean forward." He instructed.

"Thank you for this." She breathed.

"Feh."

"Right there...no..no..over... ahhhh." She murmured.

Piccolo had to smile at the little noises that she made. _"She certainly does have a way of expressing herself."_

"You're a pain in my ass." He grumbled.

"Ummm, You and I both know that I can't force you to do anything." She pointed out.

"Yeah well I just hope you enjoy this one cause it's going to be your last." He breathed into her right ear.

When Justine felt his warm breath fanning neck and ear, she couldn't suppress the tingle that came in it's wake.

Suddenly Piccolo tensed and turned his head.

"What?" Justine asked and tried to see what he was looking at.

"Wow Piccolo, you never gave _me_ back massages?" A voice from behind them chuckled.

"Hey!" Justine gasped when she found herself promptly dumped off Piccolo's lap and onto the icy ground.

When Justine had collected herself she found Piccolo talking to Gohan.

"Gohan, how did you sneak up on us like that?" Justine asked and gave Piccolo a glare for dropping her on the ground.

"I was just being a little sneaky." He said with a wide smile. "But you guys were so busy talking mushy that you didn't even notice me."

Piccolo's face flushed a deep purple. The idea of what Gohan was insinuating proved to much for his Namekian sensibilities.

Justine on other hand begun to laugh hysterically. "You think... we...were...ahahahahah! Piccolo, you're blushing...ahahah!"

Piccolo cleared his throat and curbed the urge too strangle someone. He didn't know what was worse, Gohan accusing him of "talking mushy" or the fact that Justine was laughing about it.

"That's enough." He said in a soft yet menacing tone.

Justine and snapped her mouth shut. (She knew that tone meant Piccolo was not happy.)

Gohan decided to change the subject. "I was wandering if you wanted to go with me to visit Maia?"

"Feh I might as well." Piccolo answered.

"Do whatever you want until I get back." Piccolo called to Justine over his shoulder.

Piccolo took off but Gohan hesitated. "Justine, do you want to come too?"

"I'm not sure I was invited." She said simply.

"Sure you are." He said brightly and scooped her up before she could protest.

After they had caught up with Piccolo it occurred to Justine that she didn't even know where they were going.

"Who's Maia?" She asked Gohan.

"Piccolo hasn't introduced you to Maia yet?" Gohan said, looking very surprised.

"No he never talks to me about anything." She answered.

Gohan shot Piccolo a questioning glance that he met with a glare.

"Well, Maia is a very nice widow that I met sometime before my dad came back from Namek. Her husband died and left her all alone with a family to raise. So I wanted to help her out by taking food to her on the weekends. But about two years ago my Mom stopped letting me have much free time, so I asked Piccolo if he would take over for me." Gohan explained.

Justine was speechless. It all made since, even though it seemed out of character for Piccolo to be helping some poor old widow.

"So that's where you've been taking the food." She said with a wide eyed look at Piccolo.

Piccolo nodded.

"Oh Piccolo, that's so sweet of you." She said without thinking. Then she realized, he probably didn't want anyone to draw attention to his kindness.

Gohan chatted idly with her the rest of the trip, and before Justine knew it they were landing outside a small old house.

Two boys that looked about eight years of age ran up to great them. "Gohan. Piccolo!" They called in unison.

"Hey guy's, how are you." Gohan said cheerfully.

"We're fine." They said again in unison.

"How's your mom?" Gohan asked.

"She's good." One boy said, then the other added "She's inside. Come on she'll be happy to see you."

Justine hung back as Piccolo and Gohan fallowed the two boys into the house through the back door. Then before the door shut completely Piccolo held it open for her.

As she brushed by him she caught is gaze. His eye's were like river stones, black, smooth, and cold. If she hadn't known better she would have said they were devoid of emotion.

She thought it odd how Piccolo spent most of his time not showing emotion (as if he imagined it a weakness.) But all of his actions seemed to come from a man who cared deeply, maybe even a little too much.

"_I want to know you."_ She pleaded silently. But the fact that he'd never mentioned Maia or her children, was just more proof that he had no intentions of letting her into his life.

She had to admit to herself that she secretly hoped to go on staying with Piccolo even after her training was finished._ "Dream on Justine, he doesn't want you around any longer than required."_

The small house looked neatly furnished from what Justine could see in the kitchen. A women who Justine assumed was Maia greeted them with a big smile.

"Gohan, Piccolo, What a nice surprise." She beamed. "I was just fixing lunch, I hope you'll join us."

"Sure." Gohan said (never being one to turn down food.)

"Piccolo, is this Justine?" Maia asked.

Piccolo nodded his affirmative.

"It's so nice to meet you.. Oh Honey don't linger in the doorway, come in." Maia urged.

Justine stepped forward to stand beside Piccolo, and suppressed the sudden impulse to grab his hand for support. (Ever since the fiasco at Bulma's house she had felt very unsure of herself while meeting new people.)

"Piccolo talks about you often." Maia added

Justine was floored, Piccolo had spoke of her? What had he said?

She glanced at Piccolo who was blushing for the second time that day.

"_Poor man." _She thought._ "He's not used to all this attention."_

After getting over that small shock, Justine had time to thoroughly take note of Maia's appearance.

She was blond with big brown eyes that would have put a doe to shame. She was small in stature probably only 4.9", and Justine guessed the women wouldn't have weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. To put it bluntly Maia was beautiful, and not just the young kind of beautiful. She had the type beauty that would last well into her old age.

Maia introduced her two boys as Banning and Boyd. The they had the same heart shaped face as their mother. But their hair was dark and their eye's blue.

"Boys, why don't you take Gohan and go get Rose up from her nap." Maia suggested.

The boys tromped loudly out of the room with Gohan in tow.

"Now." Maia said turning to Justine. "What would you like to drink? I have tea and orange juice."

"Juice please." She answered.

Justine watched as Piccolo stepped into the kitchen and removed two glasses from the cupboard.

First he handed one to Maia (for her to fill with juice) then he filled the other with water for himself.

"Wow Piccolo, I never pictured you as the kind of guy who knows his way around the kitchen." Justine remarked.

"Oh he only knows where the dishes are out of necessity." Maia laughed. "Evidently he got tired of coming to me every time the kids wanted something to drink."

"Why don't you two set down, and I'll get the meal on the table." Maia suggested.

"Do you need any help?" Justine asked.

"Oh no, thank you, you two just go set." Maia assured.

Justine fallowed Piccolo to the table, and did as she was instructed.

Piccolo turned his chair around so he could fold his arms over the back.

The way he looked with his arms crossed over the back of the chair, made a shiver of pleasure run down Justine's spine.

Sensing her eye's on him Piccolo looked up and caught Justine's gazeHe quirked one eye-ridge at her in question.

She immediately understood his unspoken question. "Oh, it's just that I've never seen you set in a chair before." She answered, thought she was unwilling to add that he made her shiver.

Piccolo watched Justine closely. She was acting oddly he decided. She seemed shy, like she had when they had first begun her training.

He watched her lips as her pink tongue darted out to moisten them. Her eyes were busy looking around the room so she was unaware of his scrutiny. She picked up her glass of juice and took a long gulp. Her cheeks looked flushed and she was using one hand to fan herself slightly. Was she overly warm?

As Piccolo watched her he himself felt somewhat warm. She took another drink of her Juice and licked the excess from her lips. Suddenly Piccolo felt like the air around him was too heavy. He could hear the blood roaring in his ears, while he was held spellbound by the sight of her biting her bottom lip.

He realized when she began speaking but he couldn't quite hear what she was saying. Then it seamed like everything came into eclipse, and while he was able to focus again, he was left feeling shaken and off balance.

Justine looked at Piccolo with her brows drawn together in concern, "Piccolo are you alright? You just spaced out." She asked.

"I'm fine." He snapped.

Just then the boys returned with their little sister. She was holding a rag-doll and sucking her thumb.

To Justine the girl looked like a small replica of her mother. She had the same big brown eyes and blond hair. The girl took one look around the room, spotted Piccolo, and squealed.

"Poe poe, Poe poe!" She cried and latched herself onto one of Piccolo's legs.

"Poe poe?" Justine asked Maia.

"Oh she can't pronounce Piccolo, so she just made up a name up for him." Maia said with a laugh.

"Hello Rose." Justine told the little girl, but Rose was to fixated on Piccolo to notice.

"Don't feel bad, she's like that with everyone when Piccolo is around." Maia chuckled.

Rose was begging for Piccolo to pick her up. She held her arms up to him and stood on tiptoe. "Uh, uh." She grunted softly.

"Not right now." Piccolo told her firmly.

At that the girl began tearing up, and threatened to let lose a full fledged cry.

"Cease this." Piccolo commanded. And amazingly the girl stopped, while popping her thumb back into her mouth.

Piccolo reached down and scooped the girl up. She giggled happily and took the thumb out of her mouth.

"Have you been behaving for your mother?" Piccolo asked the girl.

Rose smiled at him then suddenly let lose a messy sneeze in his face.

"I'm afraid she still has that cold." Maia laughed.

"I see that." He said heavily while he put the girl down.

"You can wash up in the bathroom." Maia said while she stifled another giggle.

Justine watched Piccolo leave the room. Once he was gone everyone erupted in laughter.

"_This is going to be a very interesting day."_ Justine decided.

_

* * *

_

_Authors note: Ok, I know I have Piccolo acting a little more nice then normal with Rose. But I will explain why later._

_Thank you for reading._

_Please review._

_Later, Raven._


	15. Chapter fourteen

_Disclaimer: Sadly I don't own Piccolo or DBZ._

_Authors ramblings (yes I know that's not a word):_

_Gahh I can't believe fourteen is done. I rewrote this one so many times it's not even funny._

_I got a new keyboard so now I don't have to use the keys on my laptop. XD_

_I thanks for my reviews though I didn't get many new ones._

_And thanks to Bob Seger and Martina McBride. It was your song (Chances Are) that inspired the dream in this chapter._

_I hope you enjoy this one Levi lol it's got lots of romance in it._

_Later, Raven. AKA Tammi._

_**Chapter fourteen**_

_The moon glistened off the surface of the quiet pond. _

_Piccolo could feel the water lap lazily at the thick muscles of his stomach. _

_Justine was just feet away with her back turned to him._

_Her soft sobs filled the night air making Piccolo cringe. Why was she crying?_

"_Justine." He called softly. "What's happened."_

_She didn't answer but her sobs quieted. He reached out to place one hand on her shoulder, hoping to comfort her further. _

"_Sometimes I wish you'd hold me." She answered softly._

"_I don't.."He began, but was cut off when she turned to him._

_Her bare skin glowed pale in the moonlight and Piccolo suddenly found it hard to form a thought._

_She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him as she had done before. Her small firm breasts pressed against the hard planes of his midsection while she rested her cool cheek on his chest._

"_Is it wrong of me to wish for this?" She asked on a sigh._

_Piccolo had no answers to offer her. He only knew that he liked the way she felt pressed against him. He liked the feel of her legs brushing his. And he felt somehow comforted by her small yet exquisitely muscled arms. _

_Slowly he lifted her and guided her arms around his neck. He met her heavy lidded eyes while his hands smoothed down her back until they cupped her small rear. He nuzzled her jaw-line and neck for a moment then he let one hand trail up her side until it reached her left breast. _

"_Piccolo." Justine whimpered and he didn't know if she was asking him to stop, or telling him to go on. _

_Just then she did something he had never in his most crazy thoughts envisioned her doing. (She pressed her lips to his.)_

Piccolo jerked awake suddenly. "A dream." He panted.

But why? What the hell would make him dream something like that? It had been so different for anything he had ever experienced.

"_The dream meant nothing."_ He assured himself.

He was simply caught off guard by the nature of the dream. That was the extent of the matter. There was no reason to be upset.

But there also had to be a reason for the dream.

Abruptly a thought struck him. What if the dream was not his at all? What if it had been Justine's?

Without warning Piccolo entered the cave where Justine slept.

He found her awake and setting up on her bed roll.

"Piccolo what..." Was all she managed to get out before he quite literally grabbed her, and pulled her up until her eyes were level with his.

"Can you project your thoughts and feelings onto others?" He asked roughly.

"I..I.." Justine was so taken aback by Piccolo's abrupt questions that she could hardly think, let alone answer.

"Well?" He rumbled.

"I could when I was very little." She answered weakly. "But I don't think I can do it anymore."

"Wrong." He bit off. "What were you dreaming about just now?"

Piccolo could see Justine blush even in the weak moonlight.

"Let me guess. It involved you, and I, in a body of water?" He said smoothly.

Her blush deepened, which told Piccolo all he needed to know.

"It was just a dream." She said softly. "Nothing to get so worked up about."

"Perhaps not. But the next time you have one of your little perverse dreams, keep it to yourself." He snapped while letting her go.

Then without a word he stormed out. Leaving Justine in state of confusion.

"_What did he mean by perverse?_ She couldn't help but wonder. _"We were only hugging in my dream." _

* * *

That morning Piccolo was a little more grumpy then usual. But he otherwise made no remarks about the prior evening.

Justine was working on her ki training and making no progress. As she cursed with her newly failed attempt Piccolo couldn't help but smile.

"You're getting a filthily mouth." He observed.

"What do you expect, when I'm around you and your colorful vocabulary." She snapped haughtily.

"You're letting your frustration cloud your judgement." He stated.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She shot back.

"It means, the more you let yourself get all worked up about failing, the more likely you are to keep failing." He observed.

"Well gee that makes so much sense. Oh I guess I'll just stop being mad at myself, and everything will work out." She said sarcastically.

"Basically." He answered.

"Well how about _you_ try to learn something new. Then fail miserably at it for two months straight. And then we'll see what kind of mood you're in." She growled.

"It has only been a month and a half." He corrected. "And now you're just feeling sorry for yourself."

"I'm feeling.. What.. How dare you?" She raged.

Piccolo only quirked one eye-ridge at her. "What was that? All I can hear is the sniveling of a little girl who hasn't got the guts to think up a decent insult."

"You big ugly green jackass! I'm going to rip out your tongue and shove it down your throat! She ranted at him.

"Oh really? I would like to see you try." He goaded.

Justine powered up without a thought. She was so livid from her own frustration, and Piccolo's needling, that she couldn't even see straight.

Suddenly she looked down at her hands and seen that she had made ki ball.

"Throw it." Piccolo called to her.

Justine was so shocked that she almost dropped the pulsing orb. But in the end she managed to do as Piccolo said.

Piccolo caught it was a minimum of effort and deflected it into mountains away from them.

Seconds after Justine let out a shrill screech of joy. "I did it!" She shouted as she ran up to Piccolo.

"Of course you did." Piccolo said just as she reached him.

Justine laughed and she jumped on her tall green friend. Heedless of what he might think, she griped his big ears, and smacked a kiss on his slightly parted lips.

"You're wonderful." She panted just before she jumped away from him.

Piccolo stood there rooted in shock, while she announced happily that she was going to see what kind of damage she had done.

Piccolo watched her sprint away. She was seemingly unaware of the turmoil she had caused with a simple kiss.

"Kami, what's happening to me?" He asked while he replayed her words in his mind.

"_You're wonderful."_

* * *

_Thanks for reading. -_


	16. Chapter fifteen

_Disclaimer: I have no rights to DBZ so don't sue me._

_Authors note: Yay! Thank you so much for the reviews everyone! I really appreciate them._

_In this chapter I explain a little more about why Justine is incompatible with human males. So read and find out why._

_Keep the reviews coming._

_Love, Crying Raven._

**Chapter fifteen**

Though it was a cold dreary day Justine's good mood was unaffected. She smiled and called a good morning to Dende.

"How long have you been here?" Dende asked while rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Only a few hours." She replied.

"You could have got me up." He said.

"I was helping Mr. Popo with breakfast." She laughed and pinched one of Dende's cheeks.

"Oh, did you make tea." He asked hopefully.

"Yep, and I have lots to tell you, so let go set down." She said cheerfully.

Once they were seated Justine began telling Dende of her progress in training, while Dende sipped his tea.

Then before she had reached the best part of her story Dende's head jerked up. "Bulma's coming." He stated then rose from his seat.

"And Vegeta is with her." He added and hurried out of the room.

Justine didn't relish the idea of seeing Vegeta again but she wasn't about to go hide in her room.

So, she followed Dende outside where Bulma was landing her plane.

Bulma climbed out and Dende rushed to greet her while Justine hung back in the doorway. Her keen ears picked up Bulma telling Dende that she had brought Vegeta. And he would apologize to Justine for upsetting her before.

Justine seen Dende glance her way with a look of uncertainty, but he asked Bulma and her husband to have breakfast with them anyway.

Justine wanted to run for her room. Vegeta made her uncomfortable, not only because he was rude and conceded, but because he put off such heavy vibrations of anger.

She didn't how he could live with himself. He held such hate inside that it made Justine's teeth ache.

Vegeta pulled numerous shopping bags out of the back seat of the plane while Bulma unbuckled Trucks from his safety-seat.

"Now, I want you to apologize to Justine right away, so we all can have nice visit." Bulma told Vegeta.

"Will you quit hounding me Woman? I wouldn't have come here with you, if I didn't intended to beg her pardon." He said through clinched teeth.

"Oh really?" Bulma asked with rased brows. "I thought it was because you've been sleeping on the couch for the last two months."

"You may think you can manipulate me, but I am not like the weak men of earth, I do nothing that I do not wish."

"So you're saying you _want_ to apologize?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta opened his mouth to speak but then he thought better of it, (the damn woman knew him too well.)

Vegeta carried the bags inside while Bulma prattled on about something Justine had no interest in.

As Vegeta passed her, Justine nodded to him in hopes of slightly breaking the ice.

"Where are you're sleeping quarters Women?" Vegeta asked suddenly.

"What?" Justine asked in disbelief.

"Your bedroom Women, where is it?" He snapped.

"Why do you want to know?" She probed

"What do you think I am, some kind of pervert." He asked looking a little shocked.

He held up the bags in his hands. "I was going to put them in your room, but fuck it, you can take them." He snarled as he dropped them at her feet.

"Thank you." She said weakly as he stormed down the hallway toward the kitchen.

Justine looked down at the shopping bags. _"Well I guess I'll just take them to my room and have a quick peek."_

Once she was in the privacy of her room she began looking inside the bags one by one.

They were all filled with women's clothing. And everything seemed to be in her size.

"I don't understand." Justine said aloud to herself. "Why all the stuff?"

Just then there was a knock at her door

"Come in." She called.

Dende popped his head in."Justine, are you coming to the table?" He asked.

"Yes." She answered.

"Do you like your gifts?" Dende enquired.

"Yes, but I don't understand. Why did Bulma buy this stuff for me?"

Dende looked uncomfortable for a moment. "I might have said something to her about you needing clothes." He confessed.

"But I don't need all this." She said and gestured to the mas of bags.

"Oh well, I guess she must have felt bad about what happened with Vegeta." Dende offered.

"Well I feel funny excepting so much from someone I hardly know." Justine sighed.

"Don't feel bad, Bulma is very giving. She wouldn't have bought them if she didn't want you to have them." Dende said as he reached into a bag and pulled out something thin and pink.

"What's this thing? Is it something to put in your hair?" He asked and held up what looked like a pair of pink underwear.

Justine didn't know whether laugh or hide her face in shame. In the end she took the underwear form him and explained what they were.

"But there's nothing to them. How would they keep you warm?" He asked with wide eyes.

"Um well you have a point there." Justine agreed.

"Never mind, let's go have our breakfast." Dende said with a smile. "Then I'll show you the video game Bulma gave me."

Back in the kitchen Vegeta had started eating without them. He was wolfing down a plate of eggs and ham so fast Justine found it hard not the stare.

"Damn Women—munch munch—she made me—munch—go with her—munch munch—to that stupid mall––munch munch." He said between mouthfuls.

"What." Justine asked with rased brows.

"He's just complaining about how I made him go with me to the mall before he'd eaten." Bulma explained.

"Ah I see." Justine said.

"I haven't had a decent meal in days." Vegeta said before he shoveled more eggs onto his plate.

It looked like he would singlehandedly finish off the whole meal, but no one was about to point that out to him.

"Do you like the eggs?" Justine asked.

"fahm hum." Vegeta answered around a mouthful.

"I made them." Justine said with pride.

"You should teach Bulma how to cook. Then maybe I could get a good meal for once." Vegeta muttered.

"If that was an attempt to get back at me for taking you shopping, it's not going to work." Bulma said haughtily.

Vegeta began chuckling around a mouthful of food, then he suddenly grabbed his throat and began gasping for air. His face turned bright red, making obvious that he was choking.

"Vegeta?" Bulma gasped just as Dende reached out and thumped Vegeta hard on his back.

A huge piece of un-chewed ham came flying out of the Saiyan's mouth. It landed in the middle of the table with a wet splat.

"Well maybe that will teach you to chew your food." Bulma said when it was visible that the prince was alright.

* * *

Later that day Justine was setting in her favorite place (the edge of the lookout) when she felt Vegeta approach her from behind.

She could feel his reluctance, and as always his scarcely controlled anger. _"No doubt Bulma has nagged him into his apology._" She thought and turned to look at him.

He stopped several feet away from her and said nothing.

Justine didn't know how long he stood there but his silence was driving her nuts. She would have spoke first but she didn't know what to say. When he finally did speak Justine almost sighed with relief.

"It was you who blew up that building some months ago, wasn't it?" He asked.

"How did you know about that?" She questioned.

"I felt the blast, though I was not near.

By the time I got to the site, the Namek had already found you and left." He answered.

"Then after we met, Bulma explained to me where the Namek found you, and well I did the math." He said and shrugged one shoulder.

"I see." Justine said while looking at her hands.

"No I don't think you do." Vegeta snapped and unexpectedly grabbed her by the arm.

She jumped and pulled away. (Now he had her full attention.)

"What do you want?" She demanded in a vice that surprised her with its strength.

"Simply this. I want to know that I can trust you." He stated.

"What." She gaped.

"I seen what you did to that man and the others. He didn't have a head anymore, it was crushed like a grape. So I want to know if it's safe to have you around my family."

"I would never hurt anyone." She gasped out before thinking about what she was saying.

"Oh no, then what do you call what you did those people?"

"I..I.. had to." she choked out.

"Did you? Why? What made you do something like that?"

"I don't have to tell you anything." She said and turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist and wouldn't let go.

"The hell you don't." Vegeta sneered. "This is my family's home planet and I'm not going to let some psychopath run loose. Now answer my question."

"He was a monster!" Justine found herself shouting in Vegeta's face.

"He deserved everything he got and then some. There was no way I could have paid back everything he did to me. And if what I did makes me a psychopath then so be it.

If that damns me to hell then fine because, I don't regret what I did.

But don't you dare judge me unless you know what I went through.

Do you know what it's like, to wake up with incisions in your body, but you have no idea was done? Or worse, you do know what they did, because you were awake when they were cutting on you."

Vegeta seen her hand go to her stomach as she spoke, and he knew if she lifted her shirt he would see deep ugly scars.

"Do you know what it's like to be someone's idea of an experiment?

Do you know how it feels to have no hope of ever getting your life back?

Do you know that moment, when you seize all your anger, and hatred and use it to free yourself?"

"Yes I know that moment." Vegeta said at last.

"Then you know why I did what I did." Justine stated flatly.

Meanwhile Bulma, Popo, and Dende had come running to see what all the commotion was about.

"Justine?" Dende called questioningly.

"It's fine Dende, go back inside. Vegeta and I are just talking." She assured him.

After they were alone once again, Justine heaved a sigh. "How will I convince you that you can trust me?"

"I'm not sure that I fully trust anyone." He answered.

"What a was the point of getting me all worked up then?"

"To gage your reaction. Insane people seldom take accusations well." He remarked.

"Oh, how flattering." She quipped.

"Ha, well I didn't intend to flatter."

"So you think I'm insane and you don't trust me?" She asked.

"Does it matter to you what I think?" He asked and quirked one brow.

"Yes it does matter to me." She surprised herself by saying.

"It's doesn't matter to me that your insane. I don't even care what you did to those people. But yes I do trust you–well as much as I trust anyone on this shit-hole planet" He answered at last.

Justine couldn't help but smile at that. "You know Vegeta, I like your sense of humor."

They set in silence for a while, then Justine stood and announced that she was going inside.

"Good." Vegeta huffed.

"See you later Shorty." She called over her shoulder.

"What was that!" Vegeta raged.

"Oh nothing." She laughed just as she went through the door.

Justine was going through her new clothes and trying them all on.

* * *

It was around 10:00 pm and Bulma and Vegeta had long since gone home.

Justine giggled as she looked at some of the more skimpy underwear that Bulma had picked out.

"Who wares this stuff?" She asked herself as she held up the lacy black piece of cloth.

Then she realized that Bulma probably did ware something just like that. She was a kind of women who was very proud of her body. No doubt she had tons of sexy clothes.

"I wander what I would look like in this." She mumbled to herself as she picked up the matching bra.

Once she had the bra and underwear on she stepped in front of her full length mirror. She couldn't help but giggle at her own reflection. She struck a pose that in her mind seemed slightly seductive.

She imagined for a moment what it would be like to ware something like that for a lover.

Then reality hit her like ton of bricks. She would never have a boyfriend. No man would want a woman they couldn't cupulate with.

Sure, she looked like a women at a glance. She even had folds of sensitive flesh in her private place. But she had no vaginal opening, no womb for a man to place his seed.

Justine felt tears build in her eye's as she thought of how lonely her life would be with no husband, and no children.

She'd never had time to think about it before, but now after seeing Maia with her children. Justine realized that she wanted her own family someday.

"_Yeah Justine how's that going to happen when you don't have reproductive organs?"_ She asked as she pulled off the black lacy undergarments.

"_What difference does it make. It's not like I'm fit to rase a child anyway."_

With a sigh Justine pulled her long nightgown over her head. She suddenly felt weary of thinking about her life, and her no doubt lonely future.

"_Guess there's no reason to cry about something I can't change."_ She thought as she crawled into bed.

"_Besides it won't be so bad, because I'll always have Dende and Mr. Popo. And it would be even better if I could still see Piccolo from time to time."_

Her mind drifted to thoughts of Piccolo and her relationship with him. Would he cut her from his life once she was done with her training? Somehow that didn't seem like something Piccolo would do. Yet he had never made any declaration of friendship to her.

"_It's not like he'll fall at my feet and ask me to stay with him. Half the time he acts like I'm more of a nuisance then anything."_

"_But still wouldn't it be nice if he just once..._

_No Justine stop this right now. It's foolish to wish for Piccolo to be someone he's not. I should appreciate him for what he is. He's a good man and he's my––hero."_

* * *

_Thanks for reading_


	17. Chapter sixteen

_Disclaimer: I don't own Piccolo or DBZ. _

Author's note: Well I realize it has been awhile since I updated. If I kept anyone waiting I'm sorry. But sometimes life gets in the way.

So here it is I hope someone enjoys it.

Also I have been asked buy two people now how is it that the Marah reproduce, and since I was having a hard time working it into casual conversation I just thought I would put the answer in my notes.

The Marah reproduce through their men, then the mothers take care of the baby. But the males need a female to stimulate them to reproduce.

I hope that clears things up.

Love, Raven.

Chapter sixteen

"Shit, it's cold." Justine stated through her chattering teeth.

"Quit whining and get to work." Piccolo snapped from behind her.

"That's easy for you to say Mr. I Don't Get Cold." She retorted.

"Just get moving or you'll be here all day." He said harshly.

If it hadn't been for the cuttingly cold wind Justine was sure that the day wouldn't feel quite so cold.

But wind or no wind she needed to cut some wood for a fire, then she would have her training to do. And if she was still conscious after the beating she would take from Piccolo while sparring she would still have to cook herself something to eat.

So with cold stiffened fingers she began cutting wood while the icy wind howled around her.

It was around noon that day when Gohan showed up and asked Piccolo if he would like to do some sparring. Piccolo quickly agreed saying that it would be nice to have a real workout for once.

They left Justine to continue her meditating alone when she complained that they would distract her.

The day had warmed up somewhat and it was actually melting the ice in some places.

"It would be nice to go rock climbing." Justine said to no one.

She picked a extremely tall cliff that boasted a waterfall. She had climbed the cliff many times but she had never gotten very high in the past. "This time I'm going to make it to the top." She promised herself.

About half way up Justine realized that she would have to move closer to the waterfall if she was find any more foot holds.

When she finally made it to the to top it was going on 4:30 PM, meaning there was only about a hour and a half left of daylight. Since Justine didn't like the idea of getting stuck on the side of a cliff in the dark, she started back down quickly.

But going down proved to be just as difficult as going up and Justine found that she had run out of daylight before she had made it halfway down.

With nothing else to do she continued downward at a snails pace.

"I just hope Piccolo doesn't get back and see me up here." She mumbled.

With only about one-hundred feet to go, Justine began to feel the cold seeping into her feet, making them dumb, and it hard to feel for good footholds.

Then without warning she slipped. The shock of falling ripped a scream from her throat. But it was her landing that truly knocked the air out of her lungs. She had landed in the half frozen river beneath the waterfall.

In a spilt second Justine was sucked beneath the thick ice where there was no air and nothing to grab hold of. Razor sharp sliver of ice ripped at her arms and hands as she desperately tried to grab hold of something, anything!

The waters fast current slammed her into one rock after another before she finally got her arm around something and stopped herself. Using her left arm she managed to punch a hole in the ice and clamber her way above water.

XxXxX

The cave was dark when Piccolo arrived. There was no sign that Justine had even been there since that morning.

With a muffled curse Piccolo stalked out of the cave.

"The fool girl has to be here somewhere." He assured himself.

After a moment of trying to locate her ki Piccolo took the air in hopes of spotting her.

"Justine!" He shouted over and over above the wind and snow. But there was no reply.

Even as he looked he knew something was terribly wrong. He should have been able to sense her ki if she wasn't hiding from him or... No he wasn't going to think that. Justine was fine, she had to be.

Piccolo's mind raced as he tried to think of ware she could be. He flew over the last place she had been. But there was no sign of her and snow was rapidly covering everything.

"Justine!" He shouted because he didn't know what to do, he felt completely helpless.

He tried to think of all the places she might have gone on her own and gotten hurt.

"That damned waterfall." He said suddenly and headed off in its direction.

In seconds he had reached the waterfall and resumed his search. He called her name over and over but the wind was his only reply.

Piccolo's heart was beating him to death. He couldn't find her. What if he never found her. He shouldn't have left her alone. It was all his fault.

Then in the distance, about fifty yards down river, he seen a splash of color against the white snow.

In a blink of an eye he was at her side.

She was laying face down half covered in snow.

"No." He denied even as he rolled her over.

Her face was white and her lips were more blue then red. His hand trembled as he checked for a pulse. She looked and felt frozen and he held little hope for her life.

But he felt it, like a fluttering of butterfly wings, her blood pulsed against the tips of his fingers.

The next moments where all a blur for Piccolo, as he raced to get her back to the cave and warm.

He ripped the wet clothes off her like so much tissue paper. In no time he had started a roaring fire and had began trying to dry her off.

He rubbed her arms hands and feet but she still felt frozen.

"Kami what do I do?" He asked his alter ego.

"Take off your clothes Piccolo, and share your body heat with her."

Piccolo didn't hesitate, he stripped his clothes in a instant and lay down in her bedroll.

He wrapped her in his arms and tried to somehow rub the heat back into her body.

"Don't you die on me." He growled into her ear. "I have put up with to much of your shit too let you give up over something as stupid as this. Do you hear me Kid? I said I'm not letting you go."

Consciousness came slowly to Justine. She was aware of two heavy arms holding her close. And of the fact that she was no longer cold. In fact she was pleasantly warm.

Her foggy mind slowly registered that is was Piccolo who held her. She could smell his spicy scent that was like raw pumpkin and ginger. She could feel and hear his steady breathing, it fanned her face like a warm breeze.

She dared open her eyes because she thought he was sleeping. Yet she found his twin black orbs staring at her with intensity that she mistook for anger.

"Are you well?" He asked simply but his voice betrayed his true concern.

"I thank so." She answered but didn't look at him. Her cheeks heated because she had just realized that they were both nude.

"When I found you in the snow..." He let his words stay unspoken.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to make you angry." She answered.

"Look at me." He rumbled.

Justine met his eyes once again thanking he was going to berate her for stupidity. But instead he said nothing, he just looked at her.

"Do you fear me Justine?" He asked suddenly.

She felt her heart skip at the way he said her name. His voice was like the rumble of thunder and the sizzle of rain.

"No of course not. Why would you need to ask that?"

"You looked away just a moment ago." He stated.

"I thought you were mad, and I was ashamed that I had caused so much trouble. But I have never been afraid of you." She assured him.

His gaze dropped down to her lips as she spoke. His mind drifted back to the fleeting kiss she had given him. He would have liked to feel her lips just once more. But he knew it wasn't a good idea. She wouldn't understand his limitations. She needed something so much better then what he could offer.

She was speaking again now but he couldn't quite hear her words. "Heh?" He said suddenly.

She smiled. "I said, thank you for saving me again, and you're my hero."

"Feh, well can we make this the last time? I don't know how much more I can take." He said.

"Oh I think you could take a lot." She said as she placed her hand on his chest. "You have a strong heart."

She hadn't been looking at him when she spoke, so it was a big surprise when he suddenly cupped the back of her head in his big hand and guided her lips to his.

For a moment she didn't know who was more shocked buy the kiss, him, or her? Because he suddenly pulled back. But it was to late to take it back, and Justine wasn't going to let him chicken out. "No, kiss me!" She breathed ardently.

He shifted and for a moment she thought he was moving to get up. Then she seen the heated look in his eyes. He wasn't leaving, he was going to make love to her.

She didn't say anything, she didn't even breath. She let her eye close as he leaned over her. His lips felt so warm and strong. At first he just brushed her lips with his, then growled when she opened her mouth and let her tongue taste him.

"This is insanity" some part of Piccolo's mind whispered, but he rejected that thought. Never in his life had he thought about kissing a girl. It had always seemed pointless. But kissing Justine didn't feel pointless at all, It felt wonderful.

Slowly Piccolo let his mouth open so that Justine's small velvety tongue could go deeper. When there tongues met and twined Piccolo was certain he would never be the same.

Justine was making little noises of pleasure in the back of her throat. Piccolo's kiss was better then she had ever dreamed.. His strong lips seemed to fit with hers perfectly. Suddenly Piccolo lightly bit her lower lip causing her to jump and gasp.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked with a voice full of concern.

"No you just surprised me." She panted and bit his lip in return.

Something sparked in Piccolo's eyes then, and Justine wasn't sure if it was because she had bit him, or because she had started rubbing his chest, but whatever the reason, he was definitely enjoying himself.

The heated kisses went on and on, one touch lead to another, tentative caresses became confident, and Justine felt herself being lulled into a state of mindless passion.

It all felt so good and so perfect, Piccolo was her best friend, he was the one she wanted to be with. She couldn't even imagine life without him. And now he was kissing her, holding her as if she were the most precious thing in the world. So she allowed her heart to speak for the fist time. She wanted nothing more then to make him see how much she cared about him.

"Piccolo, I love you." She whispered between kisses. "I wasn't sure before, but I am now."

Piccolo froze, he was sure the had misunderstood her. "What?" He asked even as he drew back.

"I said I love you." She answered a little less confidently.

Piccolo set up and pulled from the arms that had given him so much pleasure. What had he been thinking? How had things gone so far?

"This isn't right." He said suddenly.

"What do you mean?" She asked while she watched him hurriedly stand and put distance between them.

"I shouldn't have touched you. I can't even...I'm not even.. Oh hell I can't think straight." He said in a voice that showed his frustration.

"Piccolo when two people love it's only natural that they—

"I don't love you." He snapped cutting her off.

The pain she felt showed clearly on her face, and it made Piccolo feel like the worlds biggest S.O.B.

"I'm sorry, I chose my words poorly." She said softly.

Piccolo couldn't meet her eyes, it was too much to hear the pain in her voice. So he told himself that It was better that he stop this now. He couldn't give her what she needed. He would never be any woman's love.

She said nothing more while Piccolo got dressed. Oh how he wished she were more like Chi-chi, it would have been so much easier if she screamed at him. He would have gladly taken her anger over that broken look in her eye's.

"I guess I should go back to living at the lookout?" She said at last.

"No, there is no need for something so drastic. You have worked hard to get where you are in your training, it would be stupid to throw it all away for something so trivial as this." He answered coldly.

When he dared look at her again he could see that she was fighting tears. "Get some rest." He added just before he turned to leave.

When she was sure he had gone she allowed the tears to come.

Moments ago she had been in his arms. She had surrendered her heart and body to him, then she had confessed her love, thinking he would understand, and that he was the only one who could ever understand. How could she have been so wrong?

'Trivial' that was what he had called it, to him, her love was just trivial.

Outside Piccolo braced himself against a tree. He took several calming breaths while he tried to swallow the lump in his throat, and ease the ache in his chest. "I'm sorry Justine, I don't know what's wrong with me. I didn't mean to hurt you."


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_Disclaimer: I don't own Piccolo or DBZ._

_Authors note: Woot, I want to thank everyone who has left reviews and read my story this far._

_I had know idea I could do this fanfic. But it seems everything is coming together._

_I realize I can't hold a candle to most authors on here but I am very proud that I have come so far in my writing skills. This fanfiction has helped me realize that I can do this if I want it badly enough._

_Thank you again everyone and keep reading, there is no way I'm stopping now._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter seventeen**

"Justine, it's been your move for about five minutes now, is something bothering you?" Dende asked a obviously distracted Justine.

"Hu? Oh lets see—check." She said and absently moved her queen into position.

"Aw man, you're not even trying and you're kicking my but." Dende stated in dismay.

"Huh did you say something?" She asked.

"Ok that's it, something's wrong, and you had better spill it." Dende said doggedly.

"Calm down Dende, nothing's wrong." Justine assured him.

"Then why are you acting so far away?" He asked glowering.

"It's nothing, Sweety, don't worry so much." She said and patted his cheek.

"Did you and Piccolo have a disagreement?" He inquired.

"You could say that." She answered softly.

"What happened? Did he get too rough while you were sparring?"

"No, No it was nothing like that." She added quickly.

"Then what happened? Tell me what he did. Maybe I can fix things." The young Kami offered.

"I can't tell you." She said and felt her face heat at the memories of that night.

"Oh, I think I see." Dende said with a sigh. "I was afraid this would happen."

"What do you mean." She asked suddenly.

"Well it was always obvious that Piccolo was, ah, special to you." Dende said carefully. "But you have to understand that he can't have the same feelings as you. That's just not the way nameks are made.

Nameks can love deeply but we don't feel sexual desire. It's no reflection on you, there is nothing wrong with you, or your feelings. We are who we are, nothing can change that." He added sounding wise beyond his years.

"I know that, it's just I don't understand why he kissed me." She admitted.

"He kissed you?" Dende gaped.

Justine nodded.

"Wow, I didn't see that coming." Dende said wide-eyed.

"It was so humiliating." Justine groaned.

"The kiss?" Dende asked looking perplexed.

"No, no the kiss was wonderful, and I think he enjoyed it too, but then I told him that.. I... love him."

"So he didn't accept that very well, I take it?" Dende sighed.

"Ha, lets just say he dropped me like his life depended on it." She said while shaking her head in dismay.

"It makes no since that he would kiss you." Dende stated while standing. "I'm going to go speak with him."

"NO!" Justine exclaimed and all but ripped Dende's arm off in her haste to stop him.

"Ouch! Calm down, I just want to ask him... Dende started but Justine cut him off.

"Sorry I didn't mean to be rough, but please Dende, just let it go, I don't want him to know how upset I am." She pleaded.

"But maybe I can help." Dende said and suddenly sounded very much his age.

"No, just let it be, please."

"Ok if that's want you want." Dende assured her.

She nodded her agreement then hugged the young namek. "I'm so lucky to have someone like you. You're so sweet Dende."

"So you keep telling me, I'm sure someday I'll melt like sugar in the shower." He joked.

XxXxX

"Whoa, I thought we were just sparring, you didn't tell me you were out for blood." Gohan exclaimed while he tried to keep Piccolo from pommeling him into the ground.

"Cut the shit I'm not here to talk." Piccolo barked.

"I can see that much, but would you mind telling me what I did, before you kill me?" Gohan asked sarcastically.

"You didn't do anything, and I'm not trying to kill you, so shut the hell up!" Piccolo shouted while giving Gohan a swift kick to his midsection.

"If I didn't do anything then why are you so angry?" Gohan asked while blocking Piccolos blows.

"I said shut up!"

"No." Gohan said in a voice so steadfast that it got Piccolo's attention.

"If you're mad about something then fine, you don't have to tell me what it is. But I'm not going to let you take your anger out on me." The young warrior stated firmly.

Gohan watched as all the fight went out of his big green friend. (Obviously his words had stuck a nerve.)

"Why don't you just tell me what's wrong?"

Piccolo looked like his was considering that for a moment then he just shook his head and turned to leave. Gohan tried calling him back but gave up quickly. (With Piccolo in foul mood like that, Gohan wasn't sure he wanted him to stay.)

XxXxX

Time passed, as it always does, and Justine tried her best to pretend that Piccolo had never kissed her. While Piccolo tried his best to pretend that Justine had never confessed her love for him.

For Piccolo most things seemed to have gone back to normal, things like Justine's training, and quiet nights by the fire. But there was also things that had changed. Like Justine laughing and smiling sweetly at him. Or the way she used to beg for shoulder rubs. Even the way she use to share her thoughts and feelings with him. Now the only time she seemed happy with him was when she was flying.

He had been proud to see her take her first flight. And he was sure that she was equally proud of herself. But she had acted nothing like she had with her earlier triumphs. There had been no hug, no quick kiss. Instead he had seen her run to Dende, and share her joy with him that fallowing Saturday.

Seeing the way she laughed a talked to Dende only compounded the fact that Piccolo had lost something. Piccolo had walked past as if nothing were amiss, but Dende caught the look of longing in his eyes.

Now Piccolo set watching Justine sleep, and tried to tell himself that things were better this way. He wouldn't have to guess if she would leave once she had finished her training.

If she didn't so much as talk to him about things that made her happy, she surely didn't plan on staying.

"_This is what I want anyway, I just want to be left alone."_

"_I can't believe after all this time you still tell yourself that." _Kami laughed from the back of Piccolo's mind.

"_Go to hell old man."_ Piccolo snapped.

"_You're the one how makes yourself miserable." _Kami said soberly.

"_And what would you know about it?" _Piccolo growled.

"_I know if that girl leaves without you telling her how you feel, you are going to regret it." _Kami stated flatly.

"_That is ludicrous, my feelings are not what's causing the problem here." _Piccolo grumbled.

"_Ah so your admitting that you have feelings, I think this my be a first." _Kami chuckled.

"_Fuck off, I don't have to talk to you." _Piccolo shouted in his mind.

At that moment Justine stirred in her bed. "Piccolo what's wrong, who are you yelling at?"

Piccolo could have kicked himself, in his anger he had forgotten to shield Justine from his thoughts.

"I was just talking to Kami, there's nothing wrong." He assured her.

"Oh, humm what time is it?" She asked as she set up.

Her hair was tousled from sleep, and she was rubbing her puffy eyes. She looked—well Piccolo didn't know how she looked, but he new he liked it. He could imagine that her body was warm and soft from sleep, and he was sure her hair still smelled like the lemon soap she used before bed. He was suddenly struck by the urge hold her and breathe in her scent.

Piccolo mentally shook himself, he couldn't be thinking his way, it didn't make any sense.

"It's only about 1:00 am, you should go back to sleep." He said gently.

"Umm...kay." She mumbled sleepily then lay down in her bed.

Piccolo let out the breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Just the sight of her made him ache for something intangible.

"This is just too much." He sighed roughly while rubbing his face._ "I'm not supposed to feel this way."_

"_Just calm down Piccolo, I know this must be hard on you because you hate change. But just take a step back for a moment. Don't be so hard on yourself." _Kami reassured him.

"_I don't need your advice old man."_ Piccolo rumbled

"_Of course not, I'm just saying that if you kiss her again it wont be the end of the world." _Kami pointed out.

"_I'm not going to kiss her again. So just leave me the hell alone." _


	19. Chapter Eighteen

_Well here's 18. Gahh I don't know what to think about this one. It was my first try at a flashback. (I hope I did ok.)_

_I just went back a rewrote most of Piccolo's lines, (It just didn't sound like him talking)_

_I hope this one is ok._

_P.S Please read and review._

_Later, Raven. _

**Chapter eighteen**

Justine stood at Maia's kitchen sink washing dishes, Maia was helping her dry, and Piccolo was outside with the children.

Justine looked out the window to if piccolo was having any trouble at of keeping the kids occupied. He didn't seem to be having any trouble at all, fact he had little Rose on his lap while she played with her dolls.

"Rose is very special to him, isn't she?" Justine stated.

"I would expect that, considering how she came into this world." Maia answered.

"What do you mean?" Justine said while rinsing a plate.

"Well, guess there's no harm in telling you." Maia began. "You see, I didn't give birth to Rose."

"What? Are you kidding? I would have never guessed. She looks just like you." Justine gaped.

"How did you get her then?"

"It was about two years ago, not long after Piccolo had started coming every week. I still didn't fully trust him then. To tell the truth I was frightened of him. But all that changed with time.

XxXxX

Two years earlier...

Piccolo was flying soundlessly through the night sky. He was feeling unsettled, so he had been flying aimlessly for hours.

Below him he could see a car driving along an old stretch of road. The car pulled off suddenly and it looked like something was pushed out of the passenger side door.

As the car sped away Piccolo thought he heard a soft cry.

It took only split second for Piccolo to fly down for a closer look. In the ditch he found a young woman. She was laying on the ground clutching her swollen stomach. Piccolo hesitated, the girls ki was extremely low, there wouldn't be anything he could do for her.

"Help me!" She called to him faintly. "My baby...is coming...I need you to save her"

Piccolo could she the girl had a bad head wound, and if the blood on her clothes was any indication someone had left her here to die.

"Please." She gasped her breath in short puffs. "You have to help my baby."

Piccolo knelt by the dying girl, he had no idea how to comfort her. "I'll take care of the baby." He found himself saying.

"Thank you." She cried.

It didn't take long for the girls labored breathing to cease. She died knowing that her baby would be protected and it gave her peace.

Piccolo had no doubts that the baby was dead as well. Yet he had made a promise, he would check and make sure.

In his right hand Piccolo willed a knife into existence. Slowly he made a small incision low on the girl's abdomen. He then inserted two fingers into the opening in hopes of locating the baby before he cut any farther.

All through the grim task Piccolo kept feeling the need to apologize to the dead women. He loathed cutting her open when she had already been through so much.

Once he had the baby free his heart only sank more. He had been hoping that somehow the baby would survive. He held the small still body for a moment, then looked at the tattered body of it's mother. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your baby." Was all he could think to say.

Feeling defeated Piccolo wrapped the baby in a white cloth, (He planned to burry the two together.) Then just before he could get up the child jerked in his hands. Piccolo felt his heart slam into his ribs, could the baby really be alive?

"_Nail, you know about babies, what do I do?"_ He asked his alter ego frantically.

"_I don't know anything about human babies!"_ Nail shouted.

"_It looks like it's having hard time breathing."_ Piccolo added.

"_Clear it's mouth out you moron!"_ Nail snapped.

Piccolo used the edge of the white cloth to try and wipe out the baby's tiny mouth. The baby coughed then began to scream.

"What did I do, it's crying like I hurt it." Piccolo asked hurriedly.

"I'm fairly sure that's normal." Nail stated.

"I have to take it to someone who knows about babies." Piccolo muttered under his breath.

"That would be a good idea." Nail agreed dryly. "How about Chi Chi?"

"No, that women drives me insane. I'm taking the kid to Maia."

"But Maia's scared of you, you haven't even been inside her house." Nail pointed out.

"I don't care, there is no way in hell I'm taking this baby to that harpy Chi Chi." Piccolo sneered.

"Fine have it your way, but I still think it's a bad idea." Nail persisted.

XxXxX

It was about 2:00 am, and Maia hesitated to answer the pounding at her door. She had sent the boys back to their rooms while she made her way to the door where someone waited outside.

"Who is it?" She demanded before she had even reached the door.

"It's Piccolo, open this damn door!."

"It's 2:00 in the morning, come back later." She told him, even though she knew he would not be put off that easily.

"It's an emergency, I have a baby with me.. And you're going to have to take care of it." He boomed from the other side of the door.

"Piccolo, I don't know you all that well, I'm not letting you in when your acting this way." Maia stated firmly, (she didn't believe he had a baby with him.)

"Look Maia either you let me in, or I will rip this door off it's hinges. either way I'm coming in."

Piccolo seen the light come on inside the house, then slowly the door swung inward.

"Thank you." Piccolo was saying while Maia cautiously stepped back to let him in.

When Piccolo stepped into the light Maia seen the blood smears on his clothes, she wanted to run just then but her legs wouldn't move. Everything in her mind was screaming that she was in danger, but all she could do was watch in horror as the blood soaked green giant stepped into her house.

"Don't you come near me!" She said frantically.

Piccolo immediately froze, he hadn't thought about how the bad blood would look.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." He said slowly.

"What do you want?" Maia asked, then on wobbly legs she began backing away from him.

"I just need you to take care of the baby." He persisted.

"What baby?" She asked because he had nothing in his hands.

Carefully Piccolo pulled the baby out from under his shirt. (He had put it there to try and keep it warm.)

Maia gasped when Piccolo held the baby out to her. The look on Piccolo's face was one of utter helplessness, he had no clue what he was doing.

Maia took that baby, her fears forgotten as her maternal instincts kick in.

"This baby needs a doctor." She said while checking the baby for injures. "Where is it's mother?"

"The mother's dead." Piccolo stated simply.

"I'm going to have to call the hospital and tell them we're coming, and you are going to have to talk to the authorities." Maia said quickly.

"Fine." Piccolo agreed.

An hour later at the hospital the doctor had reported that the baby girl was fine, while Piccolo was questioned by local police. The police officers obviously didn't believe a ward he said. But Piccolo didn't give a damn about what they thought. His only concern was for the baby. He had given his word, and he plained on keeping it.

"I where is Maia and her boys?" Piccolo asked one of the officers.

"She's talking to the child services agent about the baby girl." The officer answered.

Without a word Piccolo pushed passed the police and went looking for Maia. He'd had enough bull shit to last him a life time, the baby was fine so that meant they were leaving.

He spotted Maia and the boys in a room talking to some prune faced woman. "Maia, come on lets get the baby and go." He rumbled.

"Sir I'm afraid you won't be taking the baby anywhere." Prune Face snipped.

Piccolo decided to ignore the women, it was eighter that or lose his temper, which hanging by a very thin thread. He turned and walked farther down the hall where he had seen them take the baby. With the police in tow he entered the nursery. The officers where now ordering him to stop, but none of them had the balls to take action.

Piccolo found the little girl easily enough, (she was the only girl baby in the room.)

"Sir you can't." The nurse was saying as Piccolo carried the baby out.

By now the Police were shouting at him to stop and Maia had come running. "Piccolo what are you doing? You're going to get arrested." Maia gulped out.

"Hold your fire! He has a hostage." One of the officers shouted.

Piccolo had, had enough, this was going to end here and now. He handed the baby to Maia. "Take the boys and wait for me in the car." He said evenly.

"Piccolo we can't just take her." Maia tried to reason.

"Just do it." Piccolo barked.

"Piccolo please don't hurt anyone." Maia pleaded.

"Trust me." Piccolo breathed.

"Ok, come on boys lets go." Maia said and ushered them down the hall. One cop started to give chase but Piccolo blocked his path.

"We are taking the baby, and you are not going to stop us." Piccolo's voice was strangely calm but no one could mistake the intended threat.

Five minutes later Maia let out a sigh of relief when she seen Piccolo exit the building, and climb in her waiting car.

"I heard gun shots. Are you ok? She asked in a shaky voice.

"I'm fine. Let's go." He answered.

"What happened?" She asked sounding on the verge of hysterics.

"They seen things my way." He said with a wicked grin.

"Did they shoot at you?" She persisted.

"Yes."

"And they missed?" She said hopefully.

"No, they hit me." He answered calmly.

Maia felt her head swim, it was a good thing she was sitting down because she sure she would pass out. "Oh lord, where?" She demanded.

"I'm fine, just drive." He assured her.

"But." Was all she could say.

This night had been horrendous, with Piccolo showing up and scaring her out of her wits, then the seen he had made in the hospital, and now he was saying that he had been shot. She barely heard her son Banning calling for her. "Mommy, I told you, Mr. Piccolo is like a super hero. A gun don't hurt him. Am I right Mr. Piccolo?"

"You're right kid." Piccolo affirmed.

Maia's hands quivered on the steering wheel, Piccolo was holding the baby and looking like he was indeed just fine.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She asked him.

"Yes." He answered.

"Then you had better drive us home. Because I think I'm having a nervus breakdown." She told him.

The ride home was slow but uneventful. Piccolo didn't drive any faster then 45 when the speed limit was 55, however Maia was to tired to care, she just wanted to rest.

Once they were home Banning and Boyd went straight to bed while Maia made a bed for the baby out of a clothes basket.

"Do you want anything to eat?" She asked Piccolo because it was almost time for breakfast.

"No." He said simply.

"Anything to drink?" She asked.

"Water." He answered.

After she got him a glass of water and herself some juice. Maia set down in a kitchen chair.

"So I take it that I don't have to worry about the police showing up and arresting me?" She asked.

"Everything is taken care of." Piccolo assured her then he produced a document that was tucked in his belt. Maia looked at it with wide eyes. "This is document of temporary custody. How did you get this?"

"Old Prune Face gave it to me."

"But why would she do that?" She asked dumbfounded.

Piccolo's smile was absolutely sinister. "She felt it was in the best interests of everyone." He all but purred.

XxXxX

Present day.

Justine chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like Piccolo. He makes up his own rules as he goes along."

"That was one wild night and I hope I never have to go into town with Piccolo again." Maia laughed. You know, back then I had no clue what Piccolo was really like. I just took him at face value. To me he looked like a big mean green----well anyway he was scarey. I had no idea that he would be so helpful. Or so awkwardly kind." Maia added.

Justine smiled, she had always known that Piccolo had a good heart, even if he didn't show it most of the time.

"you love him don't you?" Maia asked suddenly.

Justine was taken aback by the question. "Am I really that transparent?" She asked with a sigh.

"Well to tell the truth, yes." Maia answered.

"He doesn't feel the same way." Justine admitted softly.

Maia patted the younger women's shoulder. "He'll come around Honey. Remember he's used to being alone, you know? He's like a lone wolf, he thinks he would rather stay outside in the rain, then come in and risk being tamed."

Justine smiled, she didn't really believe that Piccolo would ever have feelings for her. But she wasn't going to argue with Maia. Yet she did agree with Maia about one thing, Piccolo would always be untamed.


	20. Chapter nineteen

_Disclaimer: I don't own Piccolo or DBZ._

_Authors note: Ok sorry it's sooo short. :( But I promise things will be moving along. _

_Also my job will be very hectic because of prom season, so I can't promise that my updates will be frequent. But I will try and update even if it is just to put up a short chapter like this._

_So please bear with me._

_Later, Raven._

Chapter Nineteen.

"Surprise!" Everyone shouted in unison to a shocked Justine.

"What's all this about?" Justine asked the room full of guests. She had just arrived at the lookout with Piccolo, when she found a room full of people waiting for her.

"It's a surprise party to celebrate your being with us for one whole year." Dende answered sheepishly.

"Has it's been a year already?" Justine gaped.

"It's sure has." Gohan said. "Come on, you have presents to open."

Justine looked around the room, everyone she knew was there, even Vegeta though he didn't look like he was happy about it.

"Thank you all, so much." Justine managed to say, even though tears were threatening to choke her.

The rest of the day was a blur of activity. Justine opened more presents then she could count. Yamcha gave her a bracelet that she was sure she couldn't wear while training. Bulma gave her a huge case of makeup. Maia and her kids gave a big pillow that the kids had decorated themselves.

Dende gave her a compass/watch because she had a very bad sense of direction. Mr. Popo gave her a oil lamp made of jade. and there were countless more that Dende and Popo had wrapped without bothering to say who they were from.

Gohan was a little shy about his gift. "It's not very good." He said and handed her what looked like a wad of papar. Inside the bad wrapping job she found a clay mug that Gohan had made himself.

"I love it!" Justine exclaimed and wrapped Gohan in a hug.

_Later that night._..

"I don't suppose I you have forgotten when I spilled beer allover you." Yamcha chuckled when he got a chance to talk to Justine.

Justine laughed. "No of corse not, I was so embarrassed."

"I can guarantee that you weren't half as embarrassed as I was." Yamcha added.

"Well no harm done." Justine assured him.

"Can I ask you something?" Yamcha said.

"Sure." Justine answered casually.

"Are you and Piccolo like, an item or something?"

"No, Justine laughed, why would you ask that?

"Because he started glaring at me as soon as I started talking to you." Yamcha said.

"Piccolo glares at everyone, I think it makes him feel like a bad ass. Don't pay any attention."

Then she looked over at Piccolo to find that he was actually scowling more then usual. She waved at him then blew a flirtatious kiss. (Which made his face flush with color just before he stomped out of the room.)

Piccolo growled low in his throat while he made his way down the hall to Justine's bedroom. He had overheard Justine talking to Yamcha and her words stung his pride._ "Don't pay any attention." _She had said, as if he were some child misbehaving. And he hadn't even been glaring _at_ Yamcha, he had only been annoyed at himself for not having the courage to give her his gift. Then she had added insult to injury with the little kiss she'd blown him. _"I'll be damned if I stand around here and let her treat me like some fucking pet puppy!"_ He swore.

Once he reached her room he threw his small gift inside, not even bothering to see where it landed. Then without a backward glance he left the Lookout.

XxXxX

Justine was on cloud nine. Her night had been wonderful. Everyone at the party had been so nice. They had made her feel like she really belonged, and it was a wonderful feeling.

As she stepped into her bedroom she spied a small white silk pouch laying on her floor. When she dumped the contents into her hand she found a lovely metal pendent attached to a long gold chain.

The pendent wasn't made of any kind of metal that she had ever seen before. It looked like it had been scorched by a green and violet flame, leaving it tinted by those colors. She held the teardrop shaped pendent in her hand, testing it's weight. It felt heavy and solid, and she was stuck with the strong urge to ware it. Once it was on she found that it draped provocatively to her modist cleavage.

She couldn't help but love the necklace. It was perfect, and so different from anything she had ever seen. She assumed it was one of the many gifts Dende had given her. _"I will be sure and thank him in the morning." _She told herself as she climbed into bed.

But when the morning came she found that Dende had never seen the necklace before. Then a week later Bluma told her that she had no idea who had given her the necklace. But Vegata did have a theory.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asked from the doorway where he was lingering. When both women gave him a blank look he decided to continue. "It's from the Namek."

Bulma laughed out loud at that. "Vegeta! Piccolo wouldn't do something like that."

"Oh, and how would you know?" Vegeta scoffed.

"Because he's...just...not that type of person." Bulma clarified.

Justine felt herself bristle, how could Bulma be prejudice against Piccolo when she was married to a man like Vegeta?

"A blind man could see that the Namek has placed his claim on the girl." Vegeta said just before he turned to leave.

"What do you mean?" Justine persisted as she followed him.

"I don't have time for your petty life." He sneered.

"Pull your head out of your ass for a minute and tell me what you mean!" Justine demanded.

"Why don't you ask him why he paid me a unfriendly visit last December?" Vegeta answered.

"What, why would he do that?" Justine asked with a frown.

"Because a man protects his woman from any potential foe." Vegeta said. And for a moment he almost looked friendly, but he quickly schooled his features back into there usual glower.

Justine just stood there puzzling out Vegeta's words._ "Last December was when I first met Vegeta. I had no idea Piccolo ever called Vegeta out because of what happened. Wow I wish I knew what was said between them"_


	21. Chapter twenty

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Well here it is (chapter twenty) Oh my gosh! I can't believe I've gone this far!_

_Holy crap what am I going to do when I get done. ::Smiles gleefully at the characters from Bleach::_

_Anyway I hope you have half as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter twenty**_

That night Justine tried to talk herself out of confronting Piccolo about his little chat with Vegeta. The last thing she wanted, was to look like some love sick little girl, that made something out of nothing.

Since it was now warm weather she chose to sleep outside under the stars. Most times Piccolo stayed away at night. But every now and then he would simply show up without a word as to why, and stay the night. (Tonight was one of those nights.)

The crickets chirped in the distance while the fire crackled. Piccolo was setting in his usual lotus position across from her.

"Thank you for the necklace." She said before she could lose her nerve.

Piccolo didn't even open his eyes but she thought she seen him twitch.

"I didn't have any idea it was from you, but Vegeta said it might be." She added.

"_I'll kill that little bastard for sticking his nose where it doesn't belong."_ Piccolo promised himself.

"Piccolo, I really like it." She said.

"Fine." He huffed.

"Did you make it yourself?" She asked.

"Yes and I am through discussing it, so shut your trap!" He snapped.

"You know Piccolo you can be a real asshole sometimes. I didn't ask you to stay the night with me. So if you don't want to talk to me don't come here at night!" She ranted.

He moved so quickly she didn't even know he had moved until his was in her face.

"Don't you dare disrespect me." He breathed.

"What are you going to do, hit me?" She said lifting her chin. "Will that make you feel better?"

Suddenly all the fight went out of him. He just stood there for a moment, his eye's were hard to see with the firelight at his back. And his expression was unreadable.

"If I bother you so much why don't you just leave?" She found herself asking.

"Because no matter what happens I have given my word, and I don't brake my word" He said sternly.

"So that's it then, that's the only reason you stay? She asked even though she knew he wouldn't answer.

"I just wish we could go back to the way things were before. All I want is to be friends with you, the way Gohan is" She said in a voice that was suddenly thick with emotion.

Piccolo felt his heart constrict, she had no idea how hard it was for him to keep her at a distance.

She looked up at him for a long time wishing she knew wait else to say. But there was nothing left, it was all up to him. If he didn't want her as a friend, then there was really no reason for her to keep any hope that he might care.

"I wish I could erase that night." She found herself saying with contempt even as the tears began to trail down her face. She didn't want to cry in front of him. But she didn't have much choice with him standing right there.

"I never told you before, but I've always felt like I knew you. Even that first night when you took me to the lookout and I was so scared. You made me feel safe when I thought I could never feel that way again. And when I touched you I knew you would protect me. You came into my life when I very desperately needed a hero. And... I...I guess I just hoped you would feel... something for me in return... I was...so foolish." She said just before sobs engulfed her.

Piccolo had thought that the last time hearing her cry over him was hard. But seeing her set on the ground while she cried was just too much. He wanted to leave because he had no clue how to comfort her. _He _was the asshole that had broken her heart. How in the hell could he ever make her feel better.

Her words echoed in his mind._ "I wish I could erase that night." _So many times he had thought of that night with anger, but he couldn't bring himself to regret those few sweet moments of passion.

He knelt in front of her not sure of what to do. Hesitantly he reached for her shoulders, then pulled her into awkward embrace. How could he make her understand that none of this was her fault.

Her hot tears soaked his shirt while he held her. Piccolo's own eyes burned though he didn't know why. His hands held a unfamiliar tremor as he smoothed her hair from her face. "Don't cry." He found himself saying.

Justine's hands griped his collar while she tried to quit crying. He was so close, warm and strong. He was everything she wanted but could never have. She understood now that she couldn't keep staying with him. It was ripping her heart out to see him everyday. And if she was ever going to get over him she needed to get out, but she couldn't do it right then. She just couldn't bring herself to part with him, no matter how much it hurt to stay.

In a moment of desperation she pressed her lips to his, thinking surly he would push her away.

Piccolo set stock still the moment Justine's lips touched his. An onslaught of feelings tore through his body, it was as if he was sharing her every emotion, and in that moment he was totally lost.

Piccolo growled low in his throat just before he opened his mouth over hers. The kiss went on and on as it deepened and climaxed. Somehow Piccolo maneuvered Justine so that she was lying beneath him where he could more easily sample her sweet body. The more he kissed and touched her the stronger he could feel and share her pleasure.

Her hands stroked his neck and anywhere on his body that she found uncovered. She captured his head in her hands while her lips spread feather light kisses over his face. Even as she kissed him part of her mind screamed for her stop. _"Don't do this, he doesn't love you!"_ But she pushed that thought to the back of her mind. Maybe he didn't love her, but she would at least get this one night with him. She had to leave someday, and once he was gone from her life she would have this one memory to keep her warm at night.

Piccolo willed his turban and cape away while he manifested a blanket beneath her. She was warm and so sweet to taste, he felt sure he would never tire of kissing her.

Justine closed her eyes as Piccolo removed her shirt. Inside her chest her heart trembled, this night she would show Piccolo how much she loved him. No matter what happened in the morning she would always have this one night.

Piccolo dipped his head lower as he kissed her neck. Justine gasped when she felt him suck gently on her tender flesh. Both of his hands slipped under her back so he could lift her up to his waiting mouth.

Driven by instinct alone Justine felt the need to place her hands on Piccolo's temples. Once she had done this she realized that it made it much easier to share her feelings with him. When he found one of her taught nipples with his mouth they both shuddered as pleasure rippled through them.

Something seemed to snap inside of Justine, causing her to lose what inhibitions she had left. She pulled Piccolo's head up until she could reach the place she desired to taste. Her pink tongue darted out to lick one his titillating antennae, causing his breath to halt then hiss out between his teeth.

After that there was no going back. Piccolo's need became too urgent to ignore any longer. He was way past thinking clearly, so he had to resort in ripping off her clothes. He was driven by a need to touch and taste her everywhere, then share in her pleasure from it all. She was like a drug that he couldn't get enough of, and he was to far gone to care.

"Take off your clothes too." She panted.

"Why." He asked while he licked his why down her stomach.

"Because I want to see you." She answered and started pulling at his belt.

Piccolo hesitated, what would Justine expect? Hadn't she got a good look at him the last time? Surely she knew that his body wasn't built like a human male. Though he wasn't sure where the moment would lead he allowed Justine to help him remove his clothes. Once Piccolo was free of his them Justine urged his head down for a kiss. "You're perfect just the way you are." She murmured against his firm lips.

Piccolo's cold voice of reason tried to fight it's way back into the forefront of his mind _"What are you doing!" _It shouted at him, but Justine picked that exact moment to start doing something marvelous to his ear with her mouth, while she stroked his antennae. With a heavy sigh Piccolo surrendered to Justine and the pleasure she was giving him.

Through the next hour they explored and enjoyed each others bodies until they both reached a state of climax that rivaled any conventional mating. Sated to the very fiber of their beings they lay in each others arms.

Justine slept peacefully while Piccolo tried to sort out what had just happened. His usually mute conscience give voice to how wrong he had been to let things go this far.

"_What the hell was I thinking! I can't be her lover. I don't even know where I would begin to try._

_She wants some damned nice guy who could take care of her and make her happy. Shit how did I let this happen? Somehow I have to make things right."_

He watched her sleep and it was nearly dawn before he finally let himself rest.

XxXxX

Piccolo came awake slowly. He wasn't accustom to sleeping late, or sleeping in a bed for that matter. But he had made sure that last night had been comfortable for Justine. He rolled over onto his side in the downy softness of the makeshift bed. He moved one arm to reach for Justine where she'd been sleeping, the covers still held her scent (lemons and outdoors) but she was no where in sight. He set up slowly and popped the kinks out of his neck while he used his mind to search for her ki. When his search came up with nothing Piccolo got up to look around.

He felt a chill run down his spine even before he let himself admit the thing that was so obvious.

Tucked under his canteen he found a piece of folded note paper. Part of him didn't want to know what was in that note, yet he couldn't help but read it.

_Dear Piccolo,_

_I don't blame you for not loving me. I understand that your life has been very heard and since you're a Namek this whole thing must be very strange._

_Thank you so much for everything you have done for me._

_Tell Dende and Mr. Popo not to worry, I'll go and see them soon. Take good care of Maia and the kids._

_Please don't come looking for me. I'm sure I'll be fine. You taught me how to take good care of myself._

_This is the best thing both of us._

_Sincerely, Justine._

Piccolo felt like someone had just kicked him in the gut. He stared blankly at the note for a moment while reality set in, with it came anger. How dare she presume to know what was best for both of them. Did she think he plained to leave her alone after what had happened? Perhaps he wasn't the most upstanding guy around, but he did have some scruples.

In seconds he had taken his anger out on the surrounding landscape but it didn't make him feel much better. Justine was gone and his life would never be the same.

_Quick note::Blush:: well this was my first lemon and as you can tell I'm not really into dirty sex scenes. I bet you didn't think they would ever get around to business did you wink well I'm just full of surprises._

_I hope you liked it._

_Later, Raven._


	22. Chapter twentyone

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Know it's short but I think it's ok._

_Also I changed my settings so anyone will be able to review._

_Thanks for the reviews Cyberrat, this chapter is dedicated to you._

_Later, Raven_

**Chapter twenty-one**

"_Facing the music."_ Piccolo had never given much thought to that particular expression. In fact he wasn't even sure where he had heard it in the first place. But now as he stood in front of Dende telling him that Justine was gone and he had know idea where to find her, those words were foremost in his mind.

"What did you do?" Dende asked accusingly.

Piccolo was so taken aback by Dende's tone he couldn't even answer right away.

"We had a deference of opinion, and she thought it would be best if she left." He stated.

"You're lying!" Dende snapped suddenly. "You drove her away!"

Piccolo said nothing, he couldn't deny that he was partly at fault.

Dende was so angry tears filled his dark eyes. How could she have left without saying goodbye, didn't their friendship mean anything to her? His own disappointment and pain caused him to lash out at Piccolo.

"She said that she would return to see you soon." Piccolo rumbled, in hopes of belaying the boy's tears.

"She told me what you did when she confessed her love to you. It's your fault that she's gone. You made her unhappy!" The young Namek shouted.

"I didn't tell her to leave. She's gone because she wanted to go!" Piccolo found himself shouting back.

"Get out." Dende said in a voice that was so calm it must have been forced. "Get out of my home you're not welcome here."

After Piccolo slammed out of the room Dende wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Justine was his best friend and he couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

After becoming the Earths kami he hadn't let himself admit how lonely he really was. When he'd been younger he'd had Nail to talk to, and share things with. Nail had acted as his brother, father, and friend. So Dende had never realized how different he was from the other Nameks.

But then after Frieza had destroyed his home and everything he had ever known Dende had been forced to adjust, though was hard at first he'd learned to like Earth and its wanders. All the other Nameks had been counting the days until they could make a new home somewhere else, but Dende liked it where he was. The new Namek home proved to be empty of everything Dende needed, because Dende no longer felt like he belonged. He missed Nail, he missed his home, and he missed Earth because the people there seemed to be more like him then the other Nameks.

He had thought becoming the Earths Kami would be the solution to all his problems. He would be where people understood him better, and he would be close to Nail. Even if he couldn't talk to Nail anymore, he would still sometimes see Nail in Piccolo. The moments were fleeting but they were enough to comfort young Dende who missed his brother.

For the most part things had been better on Earth. Though they were not perfect he still didn't regret his decision. And he tried to tell himself that he didn't resent Piccolo for merging with Nail. But deep down he harbored some bitterness that was most unlike a Kami.

He couldn't understand why Piccolo wouldn't share his body and let Nail surface sometimes. _"I just wish I could talk to Nail one more time." _He thought as the tears began flowing again. He knew he shouldn't yet he couldn't help but blame Piccolo for Justine's absents as well. _"It's his fault she's gone, because he's to proud to care about anyone but himself. That's why he wont share his body with Nail. He doesn't care who he hurts. As long as he get's what he wants. He makes me so angry"_

Dende's own thoughts frightened him, he knew a Kami couldn't hold any dark feelings toward anyone.

He was toeing a very dangerous line.


	23. Chapter twentytwo

_Disclaimer: I don't own Piccolo and his sexy self, or DBZ._

_Authors note: Well I guess this chapter is ok, I have been tweaking it for days now, and I'm not real pleased with it, but I have to move on._

_Please read and review._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter twenty-two**_

To say that Piccolo was in a bad mood would have been the understatement of the year.

He was chopping wood for Maia out behind her house. It was a effortless task but the steady rhythm soothed his nerves.

The blowup from Dende already had him feeling on edge, then Maia asked if Justine was coming by later. So with a glower that would have sent most people running Piccolo announced that he was going outside to chop wood.

Maia frowned after Piccolo slammed out of the kitchen. It was 95 degrees outside, there was no need to cut wood.

Then all at once she realized what was wrong. Justine must have left Piccolo.

Maia didn't blame the girl, Piccolo wouldn't let anyone very close. He even kept little Rose at a certain distance. Yet Maia felt that Piccolo truly cared for Justine. It was obvious by the way he looked at her when he thought no one was watching. And just by the way he talked about her. Piccolo never said anything unless he felt it was important. So when he had started talking to Maia about Justine even before she'd met the girl, Maia had thought it odd. But now she understood. To Piccolo Justine was very important, maybe even more so then he believed.

Outside, Piccolo heard Maia step out of her house and head over to speak with him. He took a bracing breath, then split another piece of wood.

"I'm not going to ask you what happened." Maia said when she reached Piccolo's side.

"Good." He barked.

"I just want to know if you're alright." She asked unexpectedly.

He stopped what he was doing and looked at Maia. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Maia looked saddened by his question. "Oh well I guess that's it then."

"What in hell do you mean by that?" Piccolo enquired.

"It's not really my place to say anything." She hedged.

"I'm asking." He pressed.

"If you can't even admit when your upset, then it's no wander you lost her." She said solemnly.

"Didn't tell her to leave." He pointed out.

"But you didn't ask her to stay, did you?" Maia replied.

Piccolo said nothing, he went back to chopping wood while Maia went into the house. He told himself that it wouldn't matter Justine was gone. Everything would go back to the way it was before she'd ever come into his life.

XxXxX

It was Saturday morning, and it had been one week since Justine left Piccolo. The first day had been the hardest, she spent most of that day in tears, and hopping Piccolo didn't come looking for her. She kept her ki cloaked just to be sure that he wouldn't find her. The last thing she wanted was for him to confront her and tell her how foolish she was being.

Foolish or not she needed to be way from Piccolo. Now that they had made love once, she didn't trust herself to not give in to him again. He was a weakness, that her heart couldn't afford.

She flew through the morning sky with relish, feeling sure she would never tire of flying. She was headed for the Lookout and hoping Dende would understand her reasons for leaving.

The week had been fruitful for her, she'd went back to the Southern City and learned more about what had happened to the Mama Willow. She learned that Willow had died five years earlier and was buried not fair from the orphanage itself. Then she had then spent the rest of the week collecting her feelings and making decisions. She had decided that she wanted to help people more then anything. She didn't want to use her strength for fighting, she wanted to be constructive. Perhaps there would be a time when she would need to fight and protect those who were defenseless. But all she really wanted was to help people.

She landed with a solid thump on the Lookout then dashed to the front door. She couldn't wait to see Dende and tell him everything. _"I'm going to be fine without Piccolo." _She told herself. _"I wish he loved me and I will always miss him. But he's not my whole life, and no matter what happens I'll always have Dende."_

She grabbed the handle and pulled the heavy door open. Then on swift feet she made her way down the hall to Dende's bedchamber (He was always playing video games in the morning)_ "I'll just sneak in and surprise him."_ She said to herself.

Upon entering the room Justine felt a cold chill run down her spine. The room was dark, though the curtains were pulled back it looked as if the sun refused to shine into the room.

"Dende?" She asked tentatively.

"Justine?" Came a soft reply from a corner.

"Dende, what's wrong?!" She said as she rushed forward to see him.

"I'm not well." He answered in a husky voice.

"Let me help you to bed then." She said and reached for his hand, but when her skin touched his she got a sense of something that Dende shouldn't be feeling, it was anger, pure and undeniable anger. Oddly, it felt the same as what Vegeta carried around in his heart.

"What's happened?" She asked while she tamped down fear.

"You should leave." Dende told her though he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said and forced herself to sound calm. The last thing Dende needed was her feelings troubling him.

"I'm not fit to be Kami!" He cried.

"That's not true! You're a wonderful Kami." She assured him.

"I thought the mantle would fall from me if I faltered, but it hasn't. Things have gotten worse. Just look around. This chamber and the throne room reflect my heart." He stated

Justine glanced around with a feeling of dread, most of the room looked dark and in disrepair, (that couldn't be a good sign.)

"Listen to me, whatever's wrong we will fix it. You're still the Kami of Earth and everything is going to be fine." Justine said and gripped his slight shoulders in her hands.

"I'm not so sure." He mumbled while tears began to run down his cheeks.

"I shouldn't have left, but I'm here now, I'll help you anyway I can." She said and hugged the boy to her.

After putting Dende to bed Justine sought out Mr. Popo in hopes of getting more information. Unfortunately the man wasn't much help. He didn't know if anything could be done for Dende.

"He's soul is ill and he must find a way to heal it himself. We have no power to help him." Popo said with a frown.

"There has to be something we can do." Justine disagreed.

"Perhaps there is, but I do not know of it. I have never heard of a Kami losing his way before." Popo added.

Justine set down with a heavy sigh. She had to find some way to help Dende, there had to be something!

"Maybe it doesn't have anything to do with him being a Kami, maybe it has to do with him being a Namek." She said.

"But how could that be? Nameks are naturally pure hearted." Popo asked.

"I don't know, it was just a thought." She answered.

"It will be alright, No Kami has ever fallen, Dende will find his way back to the path." Popo told her.

"I hope so." She said with a heavy heart.


	24. Chapter twentythree

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Woot thank you, chapter XXIII is done!_

_Thanks for the reviews._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter twenty-three**

The next few days proved to Justine that Dende was steadily growing worse. At times he seemed almost lethargic while he set in his darkened room. She tried to talk him into going outside only to have him say he wanted to stay in.

She was becoming desperate, she couldn't let Dende lose to the madness that seized him. "I'll go find Piccolo and talk to the old Kami. Maybe he will know something." She said as she knelt in font of him.

"Justine, I feel so strange, it's like there is someone else inside me. He's so angry and full of hate. He wants to hurt people." Dende said suddenly as if he hadn't heard a word she'd said.

"How can that be?" She asked.

"I don't know how, but he shows me things, awful things. He doesn't care about anything or anyone. He just wants cause pain."

"Don't be afraid, I'm here with you." She told him and placed her hand on his head.

In her minds eye she could see the evil that held Dende. It uncoiled like a black snake and snapped at her. Justine felt her stomach lurch at the sensation of falling into the cloak of pure evil. A fearful sound was wrenched from her throat as she jerked away.

A visibly shaken Justine stood. "I'm going to get you help." She said with sheer determination.

"_You can't help him, Bitch, because I'm going to kill you!" _A voice in Justine's mind cackled.

Refusing to show fear Justine bent and kissed Dende's forehead. "Everything will be alright Babie, I promise."

Dende said nothing he only covered his eyes while he wept in fear. He had heard the what the thing said to Justine. How could she stand by him at a time like this.

"_You can do what you want to me, but you leave her alone!"_ He told the blackness in his mind.

XxXxX

Justine touched down not far from where Piccolo was standing. He had been meditating under a large tree when he felt her ki approaching. He held himself back from her, not wanting to give away how worried he had been while she was gone.

"What's wrong!." He asked because she was visibly distraught.

"It's Dende. Piccolo, I need to talk to Kami." She said in a rush.

"What's wrong with Dende?" Piccolo asked.

"I don't have time to talk to you. Just let Kami surface." She snapped at him.

Piccolo felt his pride bristle, but he pushed aside her stinging words and let Kami surface.

"What is it Child?" Kami asked.

Justine felt a shiver run down her spine. Somehow hearing the voice of an old man come out of Piccolo's mouth gave her the creeps.

After she had explained all she knew to Kami Justine felt some measure of relief. If anyone knew how to help, surely it would be this wise old man.

"Dende must find a way to purge himself of the evil inside him." Kami told her grimly. "It wont be easily done if things are as bad a you fear."

"How would he go about doing that?" She questioned.

"There are few ways. Before I became Kami I had to separate myself from the evil in my heart. Dende was pure hearted when he became Kami, so it really makes no since why he would be having this problem now. But the fact remains, he can not go on like this forever something must be done, and soon."

"So you're saying Dende will have to spilt himself? Justine asked.

"No, that should be used as a last resort. It is a very painful process and we would be left with a new evil being to worry over. Somehow Dende must fight this thing within himself." Kami stated.

"He has been trying, but he can't fight it alone. He needs help." Justine argued.

"Then perhaps you can help him. Your mind's power is much stronger then you realize." Kami pointed out.

"Me, how can I?" She said feeling suddenly terrified and excited at the same time.

"Fallow your instincts." Kami told her gently.

Suddenly Piccolo's expression changed from one of quit kindness to grim anger, (signaling that Piccolo had once again taken control of his body.)

"I'm not going to let you subject yourself to this sort of thing." He growled.

"You don't get a say in the matter." She said stubbornly.

"The hell I don't. I'm not letting you go into a fight where you have no clue what you're doing. You'll get yourself killed!" He raged at her.

"Kami thinks I can do it." She pointed out.

"I don't give a damn what that old man thinks. You're not going back there while that thing has control of Dende's mind."

"It doesn't have control." She disputed.

"You said it threatened you." Piccolo shouted.

"So fucking what. I'm still going! She shouted back just before she turned away from him and took off.

She didn't really care if he gave chase or not. She was past the point of letting him tell her what to do.

Piccolo's heart started hammering against his ribs. She was putting herself in danger and he couldn't take the thought of her being hurt in a mess like this.

"Justine wait." He shouted, making it sound more like a command then a request.

She had grown to be a fast flyer but she still couldn't match him in speed. He over took her in seconds.

Seizing her by the arm was easy, and her trying to jerk out of his grip was expected. But Piccolo didn't expect the fist that she threw in his face, or the sound knee that she landed in his solar plexus.

Piccolo was winded but he still didn't relinquish his grip on Justine's arm.

"You think that you're the only one who can protect the people you love?" She asked him in a voice that was close to tears.

"I think you're underestimating the enemy." Piccolo rumbled.

"Maybe so, but I'm going and nothing you say can change my mind." She told him.

Piccolo wiped the blood from his lip. He could see the that there would be no talking her out of this. Briefly he thought of knocking her out and taking her somewhere. But that would prove to be a disaster, she had become too strong to be easily contained.

"Do what you must, but I'm coming with you." He said grimly.

"Thank you." She surprised him by saying.


	25. Chapter twentyfour

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Well this chapter came together very quickly. But I think that was because I knew what needed to happen even before I started._

_I hope you like it._

_Please read and review._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter twenty-four**

Piccolo pushed Justine behind him once they arrived at the Lookout. He also refused to let her enter Dende's bedroom before him. "I will make sure it's safe." He stated firmly.

"Dende would never hurt me." She stated.

"Just do as you're told." He snapped at her and shut the door to the bedroom.

Inside it was 20 degrees colder then the rest of the building. Piccolo's eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room and he spotted Dende siting on the edge of his bed.

"Dende?" Piccolo called because the boy didn't even look up.

"Is Justine with you?" The young Namek asked in a voice that sounded cracked and sore.

"Yes, she's outside." Piccolo admitted.

"Did you let her talk to the old Kami?" Dende asked.

"Yes, and he thinks that she can help you fight this thing that ails you." Piccolo added.

"What could she do?" Dende asked and for the first time looked up at Piccolo.

"She would be helping you fight to get it under control in you mind. And hopefully purge you of it altogether."

"You think that's a good idea?" He said with doubt.

"I think it's fucking stupid, but she won't change her mind." Piccolo affirmed.

Dende let out a quivering sigh. "I'll never forgive myself if she gets hurt."

"I don't really think you have a choice in this one Kid." Piccolo said.

"Will you make sure she doesn't get hurt?" Dende asked.

"I wish she wasn't so damned set on doing this. She hasn't even tried anything like this before. There will be no guarantee that it will be safe for either one of you."

"I'll find another way then." Dende stated.

"The only other option would be to split yourself the way Kami did with his evil side." Piccolo pointed out.

"Then I'll do that. I don't want to put Justine in danger."

Suddenly the door burst open, and Justine rushed in. "It will be much easier on you if we try this first!" She said quickly.

Dende and Piccolo looked up at her both silently cursed her keen hearing.

"I can't let you do it." Dende told her.

Justine came to stand in front of her young friend. She would gladly give up her life for him. Yet when he needed her most he denied her the right to help.

"I know you would do as much for me. Please just let me try." She begged.

XxXxX

Dende set on a large cushion on the floor of his bedchamber. Justine set opposite him on her own cushion. Mr. Popo paced a path up and down the hall outside the open door. Piccolo felt like pacing but he showed no sign of his anxiety.

"Are you ready?" Justine Dende after a moment.

"Yes, no, wait." Dende said. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

Justine paused before answering. "I would be lying if I said yes."

"Great, that's real comforting." Dende stated and managed a small smile.

Justine smiled back and placed her hands on Dendes smooth temples. "I'm going to count down from five, then I want you relax all your mind's barriers. Ok?"

"Kay." Dende answered.

"Five." Justine took a deep calming breath.

"Four." She let her breath out again.

"Three." She stretched her mind out toward Dende.

"Two." She lightly brushed the wall that blocked in his turmoil.

"One." She felt the wall give way like a thick curtain. Slowly she moved into Dende's mind. Right away she could perceive Dende's fear, though her mind's eye could see nothing.

"_Dende?"_ She called out.

"_I'm here."_ He answered.

As if in a dream he materialized in front of her. Suddenly he grabbed by the arm and jerked her forward._ "Look out behind you!"_ He cried and shoved her out of the way.

Justine looked up at what Dende had pulled her away from. She expected to see a big hideous monster, something black, red, and foaming at the mouth. But what she seen shocked her more then any normal demon could have.

It was a Namek. He was the same height and build as Piccolo. His eyes held no hint of emotion but hate. His face was more weathered then Piccolo's but it still retained some of the same qualities.

While she gaped at him in shock the big Namek moved forward. _"Don't touch her."_ Dende screamed at him.

Justine recovered her composure, she hadn't come to have Dende protect _her_. She was here to help her friend at any cost.

She dropped into a fighting stance as she ordered Dende to calm down.

"_Bitch."_ The Namek snarled at her.

"_Maggot." _She barked back, hoping to draw him into making the first move. (Just as Piccolo had told her to do.)_ "Feel your opponent out. Charging in blindly will get you killed." _He'd said.

Still the large Namek didn't move out of his fighting stance. His grin was pure malice and he showed enough fangs to convince her that she wanted to be nowhere near his mouth.

"_Come closer child, I want to taste your blood."_ He seethed at her.

"_You first."_ She challenged._ "Or are you afraid of girls."_

"_Filthily cunt."_ He spat.

"_Are you plaining to talk me to death or are you going to start something?" _She asked with a mock smile

Then with blinding speed he moved. He came at her so fast she didn't have much chance to block yet because she had been on guard she managed to shove her arm up in time. His fist felt like a sledgehammer coming down on her forearm. In the next instant she ducked and rolled between his wide spread legs, (a move that she had pulled on Piccolo countless times.) Then before he had time to react she bounced up on in the balls of her feet and aimed roundhouse kick at the back of his skull. Before she had made contact he swung around and caught her by the leg. He pulled her body straight out of the air and slammed her down with such force that it made her cry out in both mind and body.

Piccolo lurched forward when Justine cried out, he intended to bring the whole thing to a halt, but Mr. Popo grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Give them a chance." Popo implored.

To Piccolo this was to worst kind of fight because he couldn't see what was going on. How was Justine doing? Was she keeping her guard up? Was Dende staying out of it?

Justine rolled on her side then she pulled herself up. Dende was there in a instant._ "That's enough, let's call this off."_ He said quickly.

"_No, Dende I'm fine. He hits like a eighty year old woman!"_ She said loud enough for her opponent to overhear.

"_What are you doing!"_ Dende squeaked.

"_Pissing him off."_ She answered with a sly smile.

"_I can see that."_ The Namek boy replied dryly. _"Justine, I wish I could help but I don't have much strength. I'm afraid I'll get in the way."_

"_That's fine, just stand back and trust me."_ She said and headed off toward the big green demon.

They circled each other for a moment before they clashed again. As the fight unfolded Justine had the nagging feeling that she was missing something important. The more of his moves that she seen and the more she blocked him, the stronger she felt like she was fighting Piccolo. But it wasn't until he slammed her into a wall and breathed a filthy remark into her face did it dawn on her exactly who she was fighting.

She broke away from him to catch her breath. _"I thought you were supposed to be dead, Piccolo Daimao." _She bit off.

The Demon looked a bit surprised at being called by name, then he laughed. _"Did that simpleton Goku think he could kill a god? No, my delicious little piece of woman flesh, he has destroyed my body but my soul goes on forever and I will have my revenge. _

_I had plained on taking my sons body once he came of age. But he resisted me. Ha, maybe I made him little too strong. But that does not matter now. I will take this one."_ (Daimao gestured to Dende.) _"He is strong and he is already the Kami of earth. There was never a more perfect package." _

"_Even if by some miracle you get past me, Piccolo and the others will stop you." _Justine told him with a grin on her face.

"_I wouldn't be too sure of that. _

_You see, I have spent all this time feeding on the souls of the weak, becoming stronger with every new conquest. And then when your sweet little Dende faltered and lost his purity I seized the opportunity. Now I am stronger then ever."_ He announced.

"_Oh I'm so scared."_ She snapped back at him.

"_Did you ever stop to think what will happen to Dende after I kill you and take over his body?"_ Daimao asked.

Justine said nothing.

"_It will be a paradox, because you will be dead, and if they kill this body they will be destroying the dragon balls. Wont that be such a shame, to make Piccolo chose between saving you or stopping me?"_ He laughed.

"_Piccolo will do what ever it takes."_ She told him confidently _"But that doesn't matter because you're not getting past me."_

"_And how is that?"_ Daimao asked.

"_Because, I don't play by the rules."_ She said jumping forward and grabbing hold of the Demon. She held on with a iron grip and sank her teeth into his neck. Her legs clamped around him like a vise while her nails and teeth pierced his flesh. He screamed for a moment and clawed at her back but his voice died in his throat when Justine forced his being to become immobilized. She hadn't been sure she could even paralyze him before she jumped, yet somehow the idea had been there, like a power unrealized.

"_Who's laughing now, Bitch!"_ She chuckled against his neck.

Quickly she brought her ki up until it burned bright around them both. Dimly she could here Dende screaming for her to stop. "Why would he want me to stop." She thought but she plunged on, raising her power higher until the heat licked at her skin. Daimaos face took on a look of horror and she laughed wildly. _"You're dead."_ She told him as she rased her head to look in his eyes.

Dende screamed and tried to reach Justine though she no longer looked like the girl he knew. Her body had been consumed by blue flame. Her laugher filled his mind and it chilled him to the core. This was the part that she shielded everyone from. The part that she hated about herself. It was the reason she had trained so hard and the reason she could never truly let herself be happy.

"_Justine stop!"_

A few seconds earlier in the corporeal world Piccolo rushed forward to where Justine and Dende set. Justine's power had spiked to a alarming height. The twin orbs of her eyes seemed like two beacons of blue light shining into the rooms unnatural darkness.

Something began dripping from her nose and it took a second for Piccolo to realize that he was looking at blood.

"Justine stop!" Dende screamed, and in the hush of the room it was deafening.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Piccolo. He reached out and ripped Justine away from Dende, whatever had went wrong someone had to stop it. He just hoped he had done the right thing.

Justine collapsed as soon as her contact with Dende was broken. Dende fell forward though he still seemed semiconscious. "Justine." He whimpered.

Piccolo cradled her head in one hand while he checked for a pulse. Her ears, eyes, nose and mouth were filled with blood. Piccolo found the pulse of life in her neck and he let a out a shuddering sigh.

"Dammit, do you have some kind of death wish?" He ground out.

_

* * *

_

_Note: If I messed up anything about Piccolo Daimao, then I'm sorry but it's too late to change it now. I never watched Dragon Ball but I assumed a lot of this stuff. Like the fact that they never showed Daimao going to hell. And anyway if they did so what? This is supposed to be in another DBZ dimension anyway. Hehe now I have managed to work three Nameks into my fic. And if you count the old Kami and Nail I have five, woot, the only thing better then one Namek is five!_

_I hope you enjoyed this one._

_Later._


	26. Chapter twentyfive

_Disclaimer: I don't own Piccolo or DBZ._

_Authors note: Here is twenty-five, I know it's short, and I'm not to sure it's any good, bu hay at least it's an update ::Glares at stories on favorites list.:: Why, why, will no one update! There are so many good Piccolo fics that have seemingly been abandoned. And you know what's the worst? Getting a new story alert from the same author that is leaving their other fic to rot::Cries::_

_Ok rant over, Sorry I just wish I had some updates to read._

_Anyway thank you all for the reviews, it's nice to know you're still reading._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter twenty-five**

Piccolo felt like he was drowning, he pulled air into his lungs but he was overwhelmed with the sensation of being out of control, never in his life had he felt so helpless.

Justine lay draped over his lap, her bloody eyes rolled back until only the whites were visible.

The senzu bean he had given her did no good because she was not swallowing. Even the fact that she still drew breath was surprising. Dende seemed in no condition to heal her, so they had reached a impasse.

"I'm going to take her to a doctor." Piccolo stated evenly.

"Let me try to help her." Dende said as he struggled to stand.

"You're in no condition to try that." Piccolo argued.

"Let me try. She's hurt because of me." Dende said unwaveringly.

Piccolo sighed heavily, and moved Justine so that Dende could reach her more easily.

Dende's hands trembled but he managed to stop all the bleeding and get her heart rate steady. After getting the senzu bean down her throat they expected her wake (as everyone did once they ate the magical beans) however she stayed unconscious and they were left to worry over the reason.

Much later that night, Dende had fallen asleep at Justine's beside, he'd refused to leave her even though he badly needed rest.

Piccolo had long since abandoned any hope of meditating and taken up pacing. He absently realized that he had never in his life felt the need to pace, he'd had always been able to control his anxiety. But then again he had never been in situation quite like this one.

It was four in the morning when Dende lifted his head from his folded arms.

"Has there been any change?" He asked.

"No." Piccolo affirmed as he moved to stand near the bed.

"You seem better." Piccolo stated unexpectedly.

"Yes, she... bought me some time." Dende answered, picking his words carefully.

Piccolo could see that Dende was holding back, yet he didn't press.

"She was awesome you know?" Dende said suddenly.

Piccolo found himself smiling. "Yeah, I'm sure she was."

"When I was watching the fight I didn't think about it, I was just worried about her, and everything.

But now that I think about it... she was like poetry in motion." Dende added softly.

Piccolo said nothing, he had long since believed the same thing.

"Even at the end when she... well I have no clue what she did, but it was terrible and beautiful at the same time." Dende added.

Piccolo sighed heavily, he felt weary to the core. He didn't understand why Justine had let things go so far. Why had she let herself lose control? He knew she feared her own power, so why would she take such a chance.

"Piccolo, there is something that you need to know." Dende said suddenly.

Piccolo set silently while Dende explained the whole situation and what Justine had realized.

Dende felt a ping of regret toward the older Namek. He could see now why Piccolo acted the way he did. With a sire like Daimao how could anyone have been kindhearted. The ugliness of Piccolo Daimao was a total darkness that choked out all the good. Dende had only seen a small portion of Daimao's memories, and he couldn't fathom how Piccolo lived with every one them in his mind.

"Piccolo, I'm sorry I was harsh with you before." Dende said, but Piccolo wasn't listing, his mind was working on a new plan.

"You will have to split." Piccolo stated grimly.

"I know." Dende answered. "As soon as I regain my strength I plan to do just that."

"I will inform Gohan that we might need his help." Piccolo added.

"Yes that would be wise."

The two Nameks fell into a thoughtful silence, they both new that what was to come would be hard on everyone.


	27. Chapter twentysix

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Ok well here is 26, I'm hoping everything is ok in it. It's 2:34 am and I'm very sleepy. So if you seen anything crazy let me know._

_Thank you so much for the reviews everyone. It's so nice to hear from people that enjoy my fic._

_I hope you like this one._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter twenty-six**

Justine awoke three days after the her fight with Daimao. Her body felt fit and rested but her mind felt like it had been ripped to shreds. She turned her aching head toward the sound of her bedroom door opening. Dende came and turned on the light. Once he noticed Justine was awake he surged forward.

"How do you feel? Can I get you anything? I'm so glad you're ok." He said in a rush.

"I'm ok, how are you?" She asked him in a dry cracked voice.

"Don't you worry about me." He assured her. "I'll run and get you something to drink. Oh would you like anything to eat?"

"No, just water please." She stated.

"Kay, I'll be right back." He said on his way out the door.

Justine didn't wait for him to return She forced herself into the setting position then swung her legs over the side of the bed. _"I'm not laying around here when that __**Thing**__ is still inside Dende." _She told herself while she clamped her jaw and fought back the raging pain in her head.

She had made it to her dresser when Dende re-enter the room.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't be up yet." Dende scolded.

"I'm fine Dende, really, I only have a headache."

"You need to rest." Dende said and tried to nudge her back over to the bad.

"No, I have to talk to Piccolo. I can rest later." She told him and began pulling her night shirt over her head.

Dende blushed purple and turned his back to her. "I've already told him everything. Don't you realize how long you've been out?" He questioned.

"How long?" She said though she didn't stop dressing.

"Three days, and we've been going nuts wondering why you didn't wake up after we gave you a senzu bean." Dende stated.

"You can turn around now." Justine told him while she put on one of her shoes.

"I wish you would give a warning before you start taking off your clothes." The young Namek said and his cheeks blushed all the more.

"I don't have time for manners, I need to tell Piccolo about his fathers plan." She grumbled and shoved her foot into her shoe.

"I already told him." Dende argued.

"Dende, just let it go, I can't talk to you about it right now. I'm going to talk to Piccolo, and we will find a way out of this mess." She told him.

Dende looked at the floor, he was hurt that Justine wouldn't even listen to him. "I'm not a child you know, you don't have to treat me like I'm some kid who can't understand." He pouted.

"Dende, Honey I know you're not a child. But I can't talk to you about it. I promise I'm only doing what's best."

"Piccolo and I already discussed it and we decided that the best thing is for me to spilt." He stated.

"Yes that would be best." She agreed.

"Justine?" Dende asked.

"Humm." She answered and downed her glass of water.

"Your ki feels different then before." He said and cocked his green head to one side.

"It's because I'm not holding myself back anymore." She told him with a cocky grin.

Dende didn't quite get her meaning but he nodded anyway.

"I'm going to find Piccolo." She announced as she pulled her sleep matted hair into a messy bun.

"He just went to tell Gohan about what's going on." Dende offered.

"Good. I'll be back as soon as I can." She said and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead.

XxXxX

Piccolo was standing outside Gohan's house explaining the situation to him when they both felt someone flying in fast from the south.

"Is that Justine?" Gohan asked because he could hardly recognize her ki.

"Yeah, but there's something different about her." Piccolo muttered._ "She's not holding any of her ki back."_ He realized.

Justine landed with an unladylike thud. "Shit, my head is killing me." She gasped and clutched her aching skull.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed!" Piccolo shouted at her.

"Oh please don't shout." She pleaded covering her ears.

Piccolo advanced on her with purpose, he looked very unpleased to see her up and about after she'd had such a close call.

"Damn you, you little brat, do I have to watch you every minute?" He said and gripped her one arm.

"I came because I had to talk to you about your father." She told him holding her hands up in surrender.

Piccolo visibly tensed. "I don't have a father." He actually growled.

Justine decided backing down and letting Piccolo be angry was the best tact for now. "Ok sorry, I meant your sire." She corrected.

Piccolo looked like he wanted to throw things but he allowed her to speak.

"You know that Daimao plains to take over Dende's body?" She asked.

Piccolo gave her a look that said he refused to answer such a obvious question.

"Well anyway, he didn't intend to tell me his whole plain." She said and paused a moment to fight a wave of pain in her head. "He wants us to think that he's only taking Dende because of him being the Kami. But that's not the only reason, he wants Dende because he's spacial." She added, then the pain in her skull almost became too much to handle. She reached out clutched Piccolo's arm for support.

"You're not making much sense." Piccolo stated and instinctively reached out to brace her.

"All of the other Nameks... they can't forcibly merge with someone, but... Dende can." She said meeting Piccolo's hard black eyes. "Do you see what I'm telling you? If that Daimao takes over Dende then he'll come after you. He would be able to force you into merging with him. He could posses you just like he did Dende. If that happens he would be unstoppable."

"It makes no difference, Dende will split and nothing like what you said will happen." Gohan pointed out.

"No it makes every difference. Piccolo is the prime target, we can't chance him being taken over." Justine stated.

"How can you know what he plains to do?" Piccolo asked.

"Why do you think I have a raging migraine?" She said, becoming a little more then impatient with both the men in front of her. "I didn't tiptoe through the tulips with him, I fucking tried to rip his soul apart."

Piccolo and Gohan fell silent for a moment, neither one of them knew how to deal with an irate female.

"We should get back to the lookout." Piccolo told her and took her by the arm as if she needed guiding.

Justine yanked her arm away from him and gestured wildly. "Haven't you heard a word I said?"

"I heard every word." Piccolo answered sedately.

"You can't go back there while he is still in Dende's body. What if something happens!" She asked looking stricken.

"You are letting yourself get too worked up over this. You're not helping anyone by acting like a foolish woman." Piccolo stated simply.

Justine stopped dead, had he just told her that she was being a foolish woman? No. Surely not, Piccolo was severely lacking in people skills but he did respect her, right? Her mouth opened and closed, for a moment she was completely lost for words. This was not like all the other careless insults that Piccolo frequently peppered his speech with. This one was given in such a way that it couldn't be dismissed.

"So that's what you think? You think I'm some feather brained girl who has no idea what she's talking about?" She asked in shock.

Justine was making Piccolo worried. She seemed like a wild bird in cage, she was so frantic to get away that she was breaking her wings in the process.

"Maybe it would be better if you stayed here with Chi Chi, until this is all over." Piccolo said hoping to avoid the question.

Justine thought it had hurt when Piccolo told her he didn't love her. And she had thought that nothing could be as hard as leaving him. But hearing the doubt in his voice hurt more then she ever dreamed. All the time they had spent training and the hard work she had put into making him respect her meant nothing.

"Ok fine. Do whatever the hell you please. I'm done caring. And excuse me for trying to help you out, I wouldn't want to damage that ego of yours." She snapped and turned to leave.

Disregarding what she'd just said Piccolo did the only thing he could think to do, he reached out and grabbed her by the arm. (she was obviously unwell and the last thing she needed to be doing was flying alone.)

"You're not going anywhere until I'm ready to go with you." He told her.

Justine's head was pounding with renewed vigor. Her stomach seemed to be backing up in her throat and it was all she could do to swallow down the thick bile. Piccolo was saying something but she couldn't hear him clearly. There was a odd roaring in her ears and the edges of her vision was taking on a black rim. If Piccolo had not been holding her arm she would have pitched face first into the dirt.

XxXxX

Justine woke for the second time that day. Someone had placed a wet cloth on her forehead and she was laying on a bed inside the Gohan's home.

She wasted no time in getting up, then she fallowed the sound of shouting down the hall to where Piccolo and Gohan were being yelled at.

"I can't believe you have the audacity to come into my home and ask that." Chi Chi screamed.

"Mom, just listen, it's not like when we were fighting the Androids or Cell. This time will have more of the advantage." Gohan told her.

"I don't care! You're father is dead because he went off with Piccolo to fight. I'm not letting my oldest son do the same thing" She said with conviction.

"Mom Piccolo might need help, I owe him that much." Gohan argued.

"You don't owe him anything! Don't you remember when he kidnaped you? Well I remember, he took my baby from me and filled his head with a bunch of fighting nonsense. If he hadn't taken you, you would be a wise scholar by now." She stated.

"That is the biggest load of bullshit I have ever heard!" Justine found herself saying before she even thought about the consequences of her actions. All she could think was that she wasn't going to stand there and listen to Chi Chi put Piccolo down.

"Excuse me but no one asked your opinion on the matter." Chi Chi snapped.

"Well you're going to get it anyway!" Justine snapped back. "You owe Piccolo an apology. He sacrificed his own life to save your son, and he never got so much as a thank you. What's more is if he hadn't trained Gohan, this planet wouldn't even be here anymore. And don't you dare try and blame Gokuu's death on Piccolo, because that was Gokuu's own doing, no one else's. If Gokuu cared about you he would have let people wish him—" Justine was cut off in mid-sentence by a big green hand clamping over her mouth.

"We're leaving." Piccolo growled in her ear, then he half carried, half dragged her out the door.

"I'll catch up to you guys later." Gohan called after them.

Piccolo made no reply, his only concern at the moment was getting Justine away from Chi Chi before a fight broke out.

"I can fly by myself." Justine hissed between clenched teeth.

Piccolo didn't react to her statement he merely continued on his way to the Lookout as if she hadn't spoken.

Several minutes passed before either of them said a word. Then Justine couldn't take the silence any longer. "I just hate the way everyone treats you like your just... I don't know... it's like they don't appreciate you."

Piccolo made no reply though he did glance at her long enough to meet her eyes.

"Don't think that I'm not still mad at you for what you said." She told him, thought she didn't sound very convincing.

"Well are you just going to ignore everything I say?" She asked when he remained mute.

Piccolo stopped dead in midair, he shifted her so that he held her by her forearms. For a instant Justine thought he would kiss her. Part of her shuddered in surrender to expectation of his lips touching hers.

"What the hell do you want me to say." He roared at her.

Justine blinked in shock. "You don't have to shout in my face." She snarled back.

Piccolo took a few deep breaths and waited until he had himself under control. "I don't need you or anyone to fight my battles for me."

"I'm sorry but I can't just stand by quietly and let you be treated like dirt." She said softly.

Piccolo heaved another deep breath, he had no clue what to say to her.

"You worry too much about things that don't matter." He said finally.

"But it does matter." She argued. "Maybe you think I'm being stupid, but like it or not I care about you, and how others treat you."

"I don't." He answered.

"You don't what?"She asked.

"I don't like how much you care about me." He admitted.

Justine didn't know what to say to that. How could someone not like being cared about.

"I can't help it." She muttered.

"I don't want to upset you." He said because he didn't know how to deal with her feelings.

"I know." She answered quietly.

"Justine I want you to stay out of the up coming fight." He stated unexpectedly.

"What?" She gaped. "Why would you want that?"

"I have my reasons." He answered.

"No. How can you say that? I've been training so I could make something of myself. I worked so hard. How could you expect me to back down?" She demanded.

"You're not ready to take on something like this." He told her.

"But I did good." She cried. "I would have beat him."

"You would have gotten yourself killed." He corrected her.

"As long as you and Dende are safe I don't care what happens to me." She exclaimed.

Piccolo's face changed from a look of schooled coldness to that of anger. "Don't you ever say that again!" He bit off and shook her with controlled force to make sure he had her attention . "Do you hear me? I don't ever want you do to something like that for me."

Justine had never seen Piccolo so visibly upset. His eyes were full of emotion and she couldn't look away. _"I love you, I would do anything to keep you safe." _She wanted to say, but in the end she didn't. They finally continued back on their way to the Lookout and nether of them spoke of it again.


	28. Chapter twentyseven

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.

Authors note: Ok I think this one is done. I don't know what's up with but it's not sending me emails anymore when I post a new chapter. So I don't know if it's still letting you peeps knew when I update or what.

Anyway here it is, enjoy.

Later, Raven.

Chapter twenty-seven

Piccolo stepped into Justine's bedroom with a blanket tucked up under his arm. Dende was already in bed and everyone was preparing for the next day. He could hear Justine in the shower and smell her lemon soap in the air. He was just spreading his blanket on the marble floor when he heard the shower shut off and the bathroom door open. Despite all logic and his resolve about Justine he couldn't help but look up when she entered the room. She was clad only in a fluffy white towel and she gasped softly when she seen him.

"Wh–what are you doing?" She stammered for a moment.

"Getting ready to get some sleep." He answered in a matter-a-fact tone as if he had every reason to be sleeping on her floor.

"But you have your own room." She said and her voice climbed in pitch with every word.

He made no reply, just like he always did when he want to bother arguing. He would end up just doing as he pleased anyway, so Justine had no idea why she even bothered questioning him.

"Why are you sleeping in here?" She asked point-blank.

"Because Dende doesn't feel that you are safe as long as Daimao is inside him." Piccolo answered.

"I'm not the prime target, _**you are**_." She pointed out.

"I'm not taking any chances." Piccolo said as he lay down on his makeshift bed.

Justine walked around him so she could reach her dresser. Once there she pulled her night shirt over her head and let her towel drop to the floor.

Piccolo watched as she turned down her bed and climbed in. Her still wet hair fell around her face and clung to her neck. It dripped water softly on her night shirt and left glistening trails on her skin.

The front of her nighty was emblazoned with the words "Kiss me!" written in bright red letters across her breasts. Piccolo felt a smile twitch on his lips, how ironic that he would have liked to take orders from her shirt.

The bed covers rustled as she lay down and blew out the oil lamp beside her bed. Piccolo closed his eyes and let his body relax.

Not much time had passed before Justine whispered "Piccolo? Piccolo are you asleep?"

"I was until now." He mumbled.

"You, you don't have to sleep on the floor." She said hesitantly. She didn't know exactly what she was hoping to accomplish. She wasn't even sure that she wanted him in bed with her. No wait scratch that thought. It wasn't that she didn't want him in bed with her. It was just that she wanted it a little too much.

She held her breath and waited for his reply, and it seemed like eternity before he finally answered.

"Get some rest kid, we have a long day tomorrow." He said with a heavy sigh.

Justine was disappointed but somehow she had to agree that it would be best for him to stay where he was.

"Goodnight." She said softly into the dark.

Piccolo only grunted his reply just the way he always had. Justine smiled, it had only been a few weeks and she already missed the little things about being with him. Her treacherous heart told her that she should try and go back to living with him. But her mind told her that would only bring more grief.

XxXxX

The sun had not even started brightening the sky when Justine was jerked out of her sleep. She wasn't sure what had awaken her, (a sound, or a feeling.) But she was instantly wide awake and looking around the room.

"Piccolo?" She called because she couldn't see a thing in the darkness.

He didn't answer so she slowly slid out of bed and placed her feet on the cold marble floor. She cocked her head to one side and tried to listen for anything out of the ordinary. A soft cry came from somewhere outside her room. Justine sprang into action, she ripped open her door and flew into the hallway.

The hallway was almost as dark as her room but Justine new her way around. A light shown from Dende's slightly ajar bedroom door.

She rushed over and pushed her way inside. She found Piccolo kneeling beside a obviously distraught Dende and Mr. Popo standing off to the side ringing his hands with worry.

"Dende what is it?" She said and rushed to him.

Piccolo took one look at her and ordered Mr. Popo to take her outside.

"What? No Dende needs me!" She said even as Popo started dragging her out.

"It would be best if he didn't have any distractions right now Miss." Popo murmured.

Justine wanted to argue but in the end she did as Popo suggested.

She waited outside the door for about a hour before Piccolo finally emerged. He was grim faced and looking a lot like she felt.

"What's going on?" She asked immediately because Popo wasn't telling her anything.

"Dende woke me last night when he felt that Daimao was trying to take over." Piccolo answered.

"But Dende's ok now?" She questioned.

"I meditated with him and we think that he has things under control for the time being." Piccolo added.

"So what now?"

"Dende still wants to go threw with the split, even though he's weak from the strain of everything. All we can do now is wait." Piccolo stated simply.

"I want to talk to him." She said.

"Justine listen to me." Piccolo began. "A Namek splitting himself is not something you want to see. Dende needs to be alone right now."

"So we just wait?" She asked on a sigh.

"Yes." Piccolo told her.

"How long?" She wondered.

"There is no way of knowing." Piccolo said as he set down and folded his legs.

Justine pulled her legs up to her chest and suppressed a shiver. She hadn't taken the time to go and change out her night clothes.

"I guess I should change." She mumbled to herself and started to get up.

"Justine." Piccolo said just before she turned to leave.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"Nothing." He said with a shake of his head.


	29. Chapter twentyeight

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Well here it is. Hehe, I have been waiting to write this chapter for a long time now._

_I hope you all like it._

_Please review._

_Later, Raven._

**Chapter twenty-eight**

Piccolo opened his eyes after meditating for over five hours, they had been waiting outside Dende's door for nearly six and there was no way to tell if they would have to wait for another six hours before Dende made it through the split.

He could see that Justine was trying her best to relax and wait it out. She had a book in her hand but Piccolo hadn't heard her turn a page in the last ten minutes.

"So would you mind filling me in on the plan, or is that information for boys only? She asked suddenly.

Piccolo quirked an eye-ridge at her. "Isn't it obvious?"

"No I guess not. My inferior female intellect must be showing again." She said with sarcasm.

Piccolo looked perplexed by her statement. "Who said you have inferior intellect?" He demanded,

"You did." She answered with a frown.

Now Piccolo was really confused. How was it that they had gone from talking about the plan to discussing something he had said to her?

"I don't member saying that." He told her point-blank.

"You didn't say that, but you might as well have."

"Either I did or I didn't, end of discussion." He growled.

"Oh just forget it." She snapped. "It's obvious that you think I'll just get in the way. So I don't know why I even brought it up."

"What in the hell are you talking about?" He thundered.

"I said, just forget it." She snapped back and wouldn't meet his eyes.

Piccolo breathed in and out slowly. They were both in need of rest and the stress of worrying over Dende was getting to them. Reluctantly he recalled some things that had been said in Gohan's front yard.

"I didn't mean that the way it sounded." He said finally.

"What?" She asked because she couldn't believe her ears, was Piccolo actually apologizing?

Piccolo realized he was going to have to clarify. "At Gohan's house, you thought I was downplaying your concerns. You were upset and I was trying to–You misunderstood me." He finished quickly.

Justine felt a grin spread over her face once she realized what he was trying to say. She had believed that he was brushing her off, but in reality he had only been trying to comfort her, (though he had sucked royally at it.)

"Thank you for telling me." She said.

"Yeah well the next time you're upset with me about something, try talking straight." He grumbled.

"I'll remember that." She said with a smile.

Justine's joy was sort lived however because she couldn't forget the reason they were there. She wasn't just worried about Dende she was also worried about Piccolo fighting Daimao.

"Something Daimao said has been bugging me." She told Piccolo after a few minutes.

"Feh." He answered, because he just didn't feel like talking.

"He said that he couldn't be killed because he's a god. So how are we going to kill him?" She asked

"He can be killed by a demigod." Piccolo stated.

"Oh yeah that makes so much sense. Now if only we had some strong demigod willing to come and kill him, we'd be all set." She said with flourish.

Piccolo gave her a blank look for a moment then he let out something that almost passed as laugher. "You don't know do you?" He asked finally.

"Know what?" She questioned with her brows knitted.

"I'm a demigod." He told her flatly.

Justine's mouth opened and closed for a moment. "You're a----why didn't you tell me?" She demanded.

"I just did." He pointed out.

"Good point." She sighed. "Well that's kinda a relief."

Piccolo glanced at her. "Kind of a relief?" He asked.

"Well it's good that we have someone to kill him. But I just wish you didn't have to fight." She told him.

"You could stay here until it's all over." He rumbled.

"Are you kidding? There is no way I'm staying here when this whole thing goes down. I'm going with you in case you might need some help." She stated with conviction.

"Sure thing Kid, but I want to make one thing perfectly clear. When there is a battle going on I don't want you arguing with me about anything. If I tell you to leave, you leave, got it?" He said grimly.

"Got it." She answered quickly before she even thought about the implications of her promise.

XxXxX

Gohan arrived at about 15 past 10:00 am. He brought with him the two remaining senzu beans (a gift from Korin) and a bag full of snacks that Chi Chi had made.

Justine looked perplexed when Gohan handed her the bag. "When Mom's mad she cooks." He explained.

Justine took the bag of food to the kitchen and tied the small pouch of beans to her belt. Then she returned to meditate with Piccolo outside.

Piccolo was explaining the situation to Gohan when a sharp blood curdling scream ripped through the morning air.

Justine jumped up in one smooth motion. "Was that Dende?" She asked because the cry had sounded so distorted.

"I'm afraid so." Piccolo sighed heavily.

"Is it normal for him to be screaming like that?" Gohan asked.

"The pain is worse then you could ever imagine." Piccolo answered flatly.

Justine gasped and put her hand to her mouth to comfort herself. "But Piccolo, Dende's so young, how can he do this." She whimpered.

"Dende's very strong, he's been through some pretty bad stuff. Don't you worry, he'll make it through this just fine." Gohan answered.

The screaming continued and Justine wasn't sure she could stand it. How could Piccolo and Gohan stand around so calmly while it sounded like Dende was dying? She bit back a sob and felt her eye's burn with tears. How long would he have to keep this up?

Suddenly Piccolo came up behind her. "You don't have to listen." He said and placed his big hands over her ears. Dende's screams became a mere whisper with Piccolo protecting her from the sound.

They stayed just like that for what seemed like hours, yet Justine assumed it couldn't have been more then 30 minutes.

A unfamiliar voice echoed in her mind. _"Hello, Justine, Can you hear me?" _

"_Who are you?" _She asked because she was certain the voice was coming from Piccolo though it sounded nothing like him.

"_I'm Nail. Sorry if I startled you." _He chuckled. _"But I just thought you might need someone to talk to." _He added.

"_I'm not really in a talkative mood right now."_ She told him.

"_I know you're scared for Dende, but don't be. My brother is very strong, everything will be just fine." _He assured her.

"_Did Piccolo tell you about what's going on?"_ She asked because she wasn't sure how much Nail and Kami could see of day to day happenings.

"_Kami and I see and hear everything along with Piccolo. We are just as much a part of him as we are separate from him."_ Nail confirmed.

"_Oh, I guess I get it."_ She muttered.

Nail laughed. _"It's very hard to explain."_

"_I wish we could talk at a better time."_ Justine stated.

"_Yes that would be pleasant." _He agreed. _"Would you do something for me?"_

"_Yeah if I can."_ She said.

"_Would you tell my brother that I love him, and I'm very proud of him?" _He asked.

Justine felt her heart go up into her throat, why did Piccolo never let Nail speak to Dende? _"I'll see to it that you tell him yourself."_ She told him.

"_That would be nice. Thank you."_ He said softly.

"_You're welcome." _She answered.

Just then Piccolo removed his hands from her ears. "What's happened?" She asked.

"The screaming stopped." Gohan answered.

"Dende!" She cried for fear of what the silence could mean.

They entered the Lookout through the side doors where they could see Dende's room down the hall.

"Mr. Popo what's happening?" She asked him because he was standing just outside the bedroom door.

"I think it must be finished." He said with a frown.

The door to the bedroom opened slowly and Popo backed up. (There was no way to tell who was coming through the door.)

"Justine?" A voice that could have only been Dende's called.

The sight of Dende standing in the doorway covered in blood and sweat almost killed Justine. He was shivering and clinging to the door as if he could hardly stand.

"Dende!" She cried and rushed forward before Piccolo could think to stop her.

"It's ok, I got you." She said as she reached him.

He fell forward into her embrace with a muffled sob. "Shhh it's ok I'm here." She soothed.

"Justine, pick Dende up and leave the Lookout." Piccolo told her as he began advancing on the bedroom. (He was watching the doorway and not paying much attention to Dende who was now standing and walking away with Justine.)

"Be careful he's in there." Dende told them from over his shoulder.

Piccolo moved to stand just inside the doorway and Gohan stood only feet behind him.

"Justine I wanted to repay you." Dende said suddenly.

"For wha.. She started to ask but she was cut off. She looked down and somehow her mind couldn't quite register what she was seeing. Dende's hand was pulling out of a fist sized hole it had just made in her gut. Justine gasped as she watched him pull his bloody hand out and rip the senzu beans from her belt.

"Sorry I can't stay." He said with a toothy grin, then he was gone.

Justine fell forward, there was blood coming up into her mouth and she felt for the first time a fear of dying. She could hear a odd sound ringing in her ears. Then she realized that she was hearing Piccolo roaring in rage.


	30. Chapter twentynine

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or Piccolo._

_Authors note: Thank you all so much for reading this far. I really appreciate all of your support._

_I know this chapter has just a lot of talking in it and I hope it doesn't get boring, but I really explained a lot of stuff in it so please read. Oh and please review as well._

_Thanks again._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter twenty-nine**_

A feminine voice drifted through Justine's mind _"Justine open your eye's." _It commanded.

Justine became aware that she was no longer in pain, yet she still didn't want to open her eye's. She wanted to be in pain, at least where there was pain there was life. _"I'm not dead." _She shouted at the voice calling to her."

"_Of corse you're not dead."_ The voice answered.

Justine's eye's snapped open_. "If I'm not dead then where am I?"_ She questioned.

"_Where you have always been."_ The voice replied.

"_That doesn't make any sense."_ Justine snapped back.

The voice laughed.

"_Who are you?"_ Justine demanded because it was fucking annoying talking to thin air.

Suddenly a figure appeared in front of her. Justine gasped in shock (she was looking at herself.)

"_You can call me Fiya, though I am as much a part of you as your arm or leg."_ The doppelganger answered.

"_You're a part of me? But how can that be I haven't seen you before?"_ Justine asked.

"_You have been suppressing me your whole life. The only time you ever let me lose was when you killed that monster Gryphon. And even then you were not truly ready to accept me. But now after your attempt to kill Daimao you are finally ready to realize your true nature." _Fiya said with conviction.

"_So you're saying that you're my true nature?"_ Justine enquired.

"_No I am merely a tool to help you understand yourself." _Fiya told her.

"_But if you are part of me, how can you know something that I don't?" _

"_Let me show you something."_ Fiya said with a sweep of her hand. The moment Fiya's hand moved through the air they where transported to a strange room. The room held all kinds of computer like machines and incubator with two babies inside.

"_What is this place?"_ Justine found herself asking.

_"This is the Marah home world, and this room is where you were created."_ Fiya answered.

"_Created, as in, not born normally?"_ Justine pressed.

"_Yes, you are a clone of the demigoddess Fiyonahanna. And the baby boy beside you in that incubator is the clone of the god Sehallah." _Fiya pointed out.

"_That's me?" _Justine said in astonishment.

"_Yes, this was just before you were sent out in your pod."_ Fiya said solemnly.

"_My pod?"_ Justine asked.

"_How do you think you got to Earth?" _Fiya scoffed with a roll of her eye's, then she waved her hand and the scene changed for a second time. They were now watching baby Justine and the baby boy being placed into two space pods.

"_Make us proud small Fiyonahanna."_ The demigoddess (Fiyonahanna) told the baby just before the pod door closed.

Justine stood stock still in awe of Fiyonahanna. The woman was a every inch a warrior, from her thick armor to her heavy boots. _"That's me?" _Justine found herself saying again.

"_Yes, Justine that is you._ _You and Fiyonahanna are connected. She gave you all of her memories just before she died, so that you can live on and remember where you came from. That is why I am here." _Fiya answered.

"_What about the boy, where is he?"_ Justine suddenly questioned.

"_That I can't tell you. I have no memory of what happened to you or him once you were sent into space." _Fiya said with a sigh.

"_How did the Marah know that they were going to die?"_ Justine wondered aloud.

"_The Marah had many clairvoyants in there midst, it was not uncommon for your people to know the future. Haven't you seen that in yourself at times?" _Fiya asked

"_No, if I knew the future I wouldn't have made so many mistakes." _Justine told her.

"_Don't you remember all the times you have looked a Piccolo and felt you have known him before? Don't you remember that first day he came to get you for training? You felt it then, didn't you?" _Fiya pointed out.

Justine thought about that for a moment "_You're right I did. Even that first night, I felt like I knew him. I trusted him completely." _

Fiya nodded. _"You see, you are much more then you know. That is why I am here, I well remind you of everything."_

"_But I don't have time for this now, the people I love are in trouble, I have to help them." _Justine argued.

"_Believe me when I say that I know what's going on. Remember, I am part of you, I would not be telling you all this if it were not important." _Fiya assured her.

"_I was hurt."_ Justine said and looked down at her stomach (half expecting to see a gaping hole.)

"_You have healed yourself."_ Fiya told her.

"_What? I could never do that before."_ Justine gaped.

"_You have never been that close to death before. And you were holding back much of your true power."_ Fiya pointed out.

"_Now the only way you can be killed is by your own power, or if you are decapitated. As long as you have time to regenerate you are almost immortal."_

Justine took a deep breath, it was all so much to absorb. _"Can you tell me how I can stop Daimao?"_

Fiya nodded._ "It is not without sacrifice."_ She answered grimly.

"_I'll do anything."_ Justine added and she meant every word.


	31. Chapter thirty

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or Piccolo._

_Authors note: Oh wow I don't know how I got this done, this chapter fought me the whole way through. _

_To: Grahamsmoon. I used your "It's all going to hell on a freight train" because I liked it so much._

_I hope you all like this chapter thanks for the reviews._

_Please read and review._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter thirty**_

"Your woman is dead by now, Piccolo." Daimao Laughed and held up the bag of senzu beans for emphasis.

Piccolo ground his teeth in a effort to maintain control. He could not grieve for Justine until he had stopped her killer.

She had been losing so much blood when he had left her side to try and retrieve the senzu beans, it would be a fools hope to think that she was still alive.

"I am going to take grate pleasure in ripping you apart." Piccolo said with an extremely wicked grin.

"Are you? Well if I were you I would keep in mind that Dende will suffer every blow you land." Daimao told him. "Oh and how do you think you'll wish your precious Justine back without the dragon balls?"

Piccolo flinched when he thought of Dende. Somehow Daimao had taken over during the process of the spilt. Now Dende could only watch helplessly as Daimao used his body. Piccolo couldn't even imagine how hard it had been on the boy to see Justine being killed by his own two hands.

"I don't need Dende for the dragon balls." Piccolo told Daimao, and he was profoundly pleased with the look of shock that he got from the demon.

"Of course you need Dende, he is the Kami of this planet!" Daimao shouted, though he was beginning to look nervous.

"Piccolo what are you saying?" Gohan asked because it was making no sense to him either.

"Don't sweat it kid I know what I'm doing." Piccolo reassured Gohan.

"Be careful when you're fighting him, remember what Justine said? He counld force you to merge with him." Gohan warned.

"Yeah but he would have to get a hold on me first. And I should have him dead before it comes to that." Piccolo stated.

"Just be careful I don't think I could stop him if he merges with you." Gohan added.

Piccolo nodded just before he took off in Daimao's direction, (the fight had begun.)

XxXxX

"How's Piccolo doing?" Justine asked Gohan from behind.

Gohan jumped a foot and almost squealed. "Don't do that!" He cried reflexively. "Justine! You're alive! Why are you cloaking your ki." He asked.

"Because I didn't want to distract Piccolo while he's fighting." She told him.

"Oh well Piccolo's doing good for the most part, but I think he's having a hard time because Daimao knows a most of his moves." Gohan told her with a frown.

"Yeah it would be like fighting yourself." Justine observed.

"I think it will be ok though, because Piccolo is still the stronger of the two." Gohan added.

"Yeah." Was all Justine said.

Moments later, Vegeta arrived with his usual eager-for-bloodshed gusto. "Would anyone care to explain to me why the Namek is fighting...the Namek." He asked.

Had the situation not been so bleak Justine might have laughed at the ridiculousness of Vegeta's question, but all she could to was to sand by silently and listen to Gohan explain things to him.

Memories from a her other life came flooding back as she looked at the Saiyan prince, yet she didn't have time to sort them out. She had to stop Piccolo from killing Dende, and if that meant going against Piccolo's wishes, then so be it.

Piccolo landed a brutal punch in Daimao's gut and watched as blood erupted from the other Namek's mouth. Daimao recovered quickly and shoot a ki blast into Piccolo's face. The blast never made contact, but it bought Daimao enough time so that he could put some distance between him and his opponent.

"You're pathetic." Daimao sneered. "You never amounted to anything. I had such high hopes for you Piccolo. But instead you have become weak. You foolishly believe in that lie humans call love. There is no such thing as love. There is only truth, and the truth is that the weak die and the strong live! Your woman was weak because she cared more for that boy then she did herself. That's why she died, love does nothing but serve as a way for your enemies to destroy you."

"Shut the fuck up." Piccolo shouted.

"Do you suppose she still loved Dende even when she seen that he ripped her guts out?" Daimao pressed.

Piccolo had, had enough, he was going to pull Daimao's tongue out and shove it down his throat.

Daimao gauged his strike as he watched Piccolo lose his cool, any moment now and Piccolo would charge.

"Did you hear Dende screaming? That was no comparison to the way he reacted in seeing your woman's blood cover his hands." Daimao sneered.

Blinded by anger Piccolo rushed forward, (he was going to make Daimao pay for what he had done.)

At the last possible second Daimao threw his arms up over his head. "Piccolo don't hurt me!" He cried in Dende's sweet voice. It was a ruse of course, and it only worked long enough to take Piccolo off-guard, but that was all the time Daimao needed.

Piccolo knew he had made a mistake as soon as he let himself pause. At the moment Piccolo faltered Daimao struck like a coiled snake, his hands reached out and latched onto Piccolo with a grip that could not easily be broken.

Piccolo tried desperately to pull Daimao off him, yet it was a losing battle, (it felt as if his arms were ten times their normal weight.)

"Piccolo!" Justine screamed when she seen what was happening. In the next instant she flew into the air with profound speed in a attempt to stop what was happening.

Before she ever reached her target a huge ki blast knocked her to the ground. With blurry eye's Justine watched in horror as three more ki blasts ripped through the air, (Piccolo was trying to kill himself rather then be taken.)

Piccolo's mighty blasts kicked up a enormous dust cloud that even blocked out the sun, making it impossible to see what was going on. A deathly silence fell over everyone and everything. It was so deep and maddening that Justine found herself straining to hear something, anything, somehow it seemed that if she could only hear a bird or the wind that things would be alright.

She held her breath as the dust settled down. Slowly out of the cloud emerged a figure looming not far from her. Justine could soon see that she was looking at Piccolo yet his eye's held a coldness that could have only been Daimao.

"You just keep coming back like a bad penny." He chuckled and confirmed Justine's worst fear, (Piccolo's body had been taken.)

Justine wanted to scream and cry out in frustration, how could things get any worse? It seemed like everything was going to hell on a freight train.

In a flash he was in front of her, standing so close she could feel his body heat. She hadn't even see him coming until he was right in her face. "You don't know when to cut and run my dear." He breathed.

Justine jumped back to put some space between her and Daimao. "You bastard." Justine screamed at him.

Vegeta seen that Daimao was about to strike before anyone else. Call it warriors instinct, or maybe it was just experience, whatever it was Vegeta intercepted a deadly ki blast that would have killed Justine had since she didn't see it coming.

"Leave now." Vegeta barked at a the shale shocked girl.

Justine backed up but she didn't go far, she couldn't leave knowing that there was only one way to kill Daimao while saving Piccolo and Dende.

Vegeta launched himself at Daimao and they rose up into the air as they fought. Vegeta's arms moved with blurring speed, landing punches here and there. Daimao seemed to be taking a beating at first but Justine felt ill at ease, Daimao was cunning, he loved getting the drop on people, somehow Justine knew he was toying with Vegeta.

"Gohan you have to help me." Justine whispered suddenly.

"With what?" Gohan asked though he didn't take his eye's off the fight.

"When I say go I want you to try and distract Daimao long enough for me to catch him." Justine told him quietly.

"Why? Vegeta is doing fine." Gohan observed.

"He wont be when Daimao gets serious." Justine answered. "Besides if Vegeta does have the upper hand Piccolo and Dende are dead along with Daimao. And I frankly don't want that to happen." She breathed.

"Ok say I help you. What do you plan on doing once you catch Daimao?" The young warrior asked.

"Shhh keep your voice down, I don't want Daimao to hear." Justine snapped.

"They're fifty yards away." Gohan argued.

"And Nameks can hear a pin droop from thirty, now keep your damn voice down." Justine warned.

"Fine, what do you plan to do?" Gohan asked in a hushed tone.

"I'm going to purge Piccolo of Daimao and kill Daimao once and for all." Justine answered.

"Didn't you try that already with Dende?" Gohan questioned.

"Yes but this time I know what I'm doing." Justine assured him.

"Are you sure you wont be hurt?" Gohan pressed.

Justine didn't want to lie to the boy, but she didn't want an argument either. "Everything will be fine." She told him with a smile that didn't reach her eye's.


	32. Chapter thirtyone

_Disclaimer: No I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Ok here is 31 I hope it's ok. I know it's short but I think I left off on the perfect part._

_Anyway I hope I didn't piss anyone off with this chapter but there is a few more to come so keep reading and reviewing._

_Thanks for all you're support everyone._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter thirty-one**_

Justine's heart felt like thunder in her chest while she watched Vegeta fight Daimao. She was waiting for the perfect moment to jump in and stop the madness once and for all. She felt no fear for herself only worry for her loved ones.

Vegeta was fully powered up by now he's hair blond, and his eye's green. Too Justine he seemed strangely beautiful, he was a warrior in his element. His whole body was generating a lethal power that left her in awe. Yet even as she watched the fight she knew Vegeta didn't have a chance against Daimao.

"Vegeta, watch out!" She screamed just before Daimao landed a rib crushing kick to Vegeta's side.

Vegeta's body flew through the air from the force of the kick and landed with explosion of dirt on the ground.

Amazingly Vegeta shot out of the crater he had just made and continued fighting with frightening determination.

"Gohan you have to help me stop this." Justine pleaded even as she watched Vegeta take a sickeningly brutal blow to the face.

"Let's go." Was all Gohan said before he rushed headlong into the fight.

"_Justine you will need my help."_ Fiya told her.

"_Whatever you think is best."_ Justine answered.

"_Just let go."_ Fiya instructed.

Justine took one deep breath then gave one last thought to sweet life she'd had, (being taken in by Dende, being saved by Piccolo, and having the peace of feeling like she truly belonged.)

Up ahead of her Gahan and Vegeta were fighting Daimao and Justine felt oddly detached as she waited for her moment to strike.

"_Justine, there is no need to wait. You can take him head on." _Fiya told her.

"_Fine." _Was all Justine said as she prepared herself for battle.

Vegeta felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand up. "Impossible!" He gasped even as turned to look at the one who had drawn his attention.

Daimao seized the moment of distraction and tried to gain the upper hand by attacking Vegeta. But in the blink of and eye Daimao's hand was halted by and iron like grip that he knew all too well.

"I am going to make you sorry for what you've done." Justine growled into Daimao's face.

Daimao found himself unable to retaliate against the girl while she held the arm of his stolen body.

Justine looked over her shoulder at Vegeta."I am glad to see you have changed since our last meeting Prince." She told him in voice that he recognized from over 16 years before.

"How." Vegeta found himself asking.

"I live through Justine, she and I are two halves of a whole. Now you and Gohan should move back, Justine has become fond of you for some reason, and she wouldn't like it if you are harmed" Fiya answered.

Vegeta moved back though he didn't take his eyes off the woman before him. How could she and Justine be one in the same? Had his first instincts about Justine been right? Had she come to try and avenge the death of her race?

Justine read his thoughts. "Don't be so cocky Vegeta, if Fiya wanted you dead she would have killed you long ago. She spared you because she could see that it was your unborn son who would one day kill Frieza."

Vegeta was for once lost for words. He had never allowed himself to admit that the Marah woman had won the battle so long ago.

"It seems we have come full circle Vegeta." Justine told him.

"What are you doing!" The Saiyan prince demanded.

"I'm doing what has to be done, the same as Fiya did 16 years ago." She answered.

Then as if she had dismissed him she turned to face the paralyzed Daimao. Slowly she allowed her ki to build and grow around them. Her eye's began to glow with a bright blue light that drowned out their natural color. Waves of her ki energy flowed up around her body until her hair was all but standing on end.

Slowly Justine leaned forward and pressed her lips to Piccolo's motionless ones. "Piccolo, Dende, if you can hear me, I just want to say goodbye, and I'm sorry."

For Piccolo it was as if time had stopped then suddenly sped up, and there was nothing he could do slow it down again, (though he wanted to so badly.) Trapped inside his own body he could only watch helplessly as Justine built her ki to a unthinkable level. There was a roaring of wind in his ears as the brilliant blue light enveloped them both. And then for a moment there was nothing but the sensation of falling.

Slowly Piccolo became aware that he had control of his body. He could feel the ground beneath him and a soft weight laying on him. Piccolo shifted his body so that he could set up. His hands found there way to Justine who was laying across his lap.

As his eye's focused Piccolo could see that Justine was laying deathly still.

"Piccolo!" Gohan shouted as he came running.

"Is Justine ok?" The boy asked and he started to kneel down so that he could get a closer look, but Vegeta stopped him with a firm hand.

"Leave it." Vegeta said fiercely.

Piccolo held Justine with his head bent low in grief. It wasn't right, she shouldn't have done such a thing.

"You damn fool!" He bit off. "Do you think I want to live in a world without you in it?"

Firstly the tears came one at a time, then they began flowing freely. He had never even told her the truth about his feelings.

Gohan looked at Vegeta. "Can't we get the dragon balls together and bring her back?"

Vegeta frowned. "How the hell should I know? The kid Namek is gone, so I would think that means the dragon balls are gone as well." He snapped.

Justine's body faded then it altogether vanished even as Piccolo held her. Gohan found himself wanting to say something to try and offer comfort to Piccolo, but how can you comfort a man isolates himself so completely?

"Where are you going?" Gohan asked when Piccolo stood up, then turned and began walking away.

"I'm going to bring her back." Piccolo stated flatly.


	33. Chapter thirtytwo

_Disclaimer: Yeah yeah I don't own DBZ._

_Authors note: Ok I know this is short but it's better then nothing. I hope to get some reviews so I know that you peeps are still reading._

_I'm going to be writing more even after I post this. So thanks for all the reviews everyone._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter thirty-two**_

"_If he makes one more lame joke I'm going to rip his antennae of his head, and shove them down his throat!"_ Justine swore silently to herself. She had been staying with King Kai and Goku for only a few days, and in that time she had decided that King Kai had to be the most annoying person she had ever met.

"Don't you get it?" King Kai asked her after he had finished laughing at his own joke.

"At this point I don't think you want me to answer that." Justine grumbled.

"Well I thought it was funny." The oversized bug muttered.

Justine didn't reply she only went back to her meditating. Briefly she wondered how Piccolo and Dende were doing, she had no way of knowing what was going on down on Earth, or if Piccolo was still merged with Dende. _"I just hope they're all ok."_ She prayed soundlessly.

"Hey, look I got the TV to work." Goku called triumphantly.

"Thank you." She sighed because she knew the two men would be distracted for hours if they had their TV to watch.

"Want to play cards?" The cricket (Gregory) asked and held up a small deck of cards.

"Sure why not." She mumbled.

"Are you worried about something?" Gregory asked.

"I just miss my home." She muttered.

"I'm sure they'll find a way to wish you back." The cricket assured her.

"I hope so." She said as she began to shuffle the cards.

XxXxX

To say that Gohan was worried about Piccolo may have been too strong a word. But the young Saiyan was definitely concerned about his sensei. That was why he had come to the Lookout with hopes of finding out how Piccolo was doing.

"How long has Piccolo been in there?" Gohan asked Mr. Popo who was standing outside Dende's bedroom door ringing his hands.

"About two days." The old man answered. "I'm so worried, he was screaming all night last night, and all day today, (trying to separate with Dende) but I don't think it's working. And about ten minutes ago he just stopped screaming and it's been quiet ever since"

"Should I go in?" Gohan asked.

"I think that's your choice." Popo said, then he added. "Because you're the nearest thing he has to family."

Gohan nodded even as he pushed the door open. Inside, the room was dark with only the light from the hallway giving off some illumination.

Gohan first spotted Piccolo laying face down on the cold marble floor.

"Piccolo, are you ok?" He called even as he knelt down to check on the Namek. Once he go close enough Gohan could see that his friend was only sleeping deeply and had know visible signs of distress.

"Gohan." Someone called from the bed in the center of the large room. The voice sounded much like Dende's but it seemed somehow wrong.

"Dende is that you?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah it's really me." Dende answered as if he feared Gohan wouldn't believe him.

"Are you ok? Your voice sounds funny." Gohan said as he looked up and tried to see his friend in the darkened room.

"Hold on, I'll light the lamp." Dende told him.

There was a brief flash from a match being struck then the soft glow of a lamp filled the room. Gahan couldn't believe his own eyes as he stared at Dende.

"What happened?" Gohan gaped.

"Piccolo couldn't make my new body look like my old one. That's why they say that once a Namek is merged, he can never have his body back." Dende answered.

"Wow it's going to take some getting used to." The young Saiyan answered.

"Yeah. But anyway do you want to help me get Piccolo off the floor? He shoved me away while he was still awake but I think he won't give us any trouble now." Dende added.

"Sure." Gohan stated as he began awkwardly lifting Piccolo off the floor.

The two boys managed to move the older Namek to the bed without waking him, though they weren't sure they could have roused him if they'd tried.

"So are the Dragon balls back now that you're here?" Gohan questioned.

"No, because my first body is gone I will have to make new ones, but don't worry that shouldn't take me too long." Dende answered.

"Ok that's good because I don't think Piccolo will be happy if he has to wait." Gohan said with a small smile.


	34. Chapter thirtythree

_Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ._

_I hope you like, and please read and review._

_Later, Raven._

_**Chapter thirty-three**_

It was 10:35 pm on a extremely uneventful day when King Kai suddenly perked his antennae up and smiled. "It looks like you wont be staying after all." He told Justine.

"What?" She asked because she had been busy sparring with Gokuu.

"Dende is about to wish you back." King Kai clarified.

"Yes! Thank you!" She said and threw her hands into the air.

"Tell everyone I said hi, ok?" Gokuu told her.

"Ok I will." Justine said in a rush. "And King Kai thank you for letting me stay here." She added because she was in a better mood then she had been in weeks.

"Yeah well I wish I could say the pleasure was all mine, but you are just as grumpy as Piccolo." The Kai answered.

XxXxX

Piccolo felt like his heart was about to beat it's way through the wall of his chest, while he watched as Dende summoned the colossal dragon and made his wish.

Piccolo let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding once the dragon told them there wish could be granted.

And then, just as she had vanished, Justine reappeared only feet away. She looked down at her own hands as if to make sure she was still whole, then she looked up at Dende who stood right in front of her.

Justine couldn't believe her own eye's. In front of her stood a man that her minds eye told her was Dende, and yet his body looked almost exactly like Piccolo. His face was softer because unlike Piccolo he hadn't spent his whole life scowling. And his eye's held a purity that only Dende had. He held his arms out wide inviting her into them and she rushed forward to give him a hug.

"Can you forgive me?" He asked as tears built in his eye's. (Though he looked like a grown man he was still only a boy.)

"There is nothing to forgive." She told him as she wiped away the tears from his cheeks. "Sweet Dende, you are the brother of my heart, there is nothing you can do to make me stop loving you."

Dende smiled at her and pulled her close for another fierce hug.

Piccolo hung back and watched Justine's happy reunion with Dende. Part of him was happy that she had returned home and that everything was right again. Yet another part of him wanted to keep her all to himself, still he hung back and didn't make any move to speak with her, now was not the right time for any of his plains.

"You still have one wish." Shenron told them impatiently.

"I have a wish." Justine called out and turned to look up at the dragon.

"State your wish." The dragon boomed.

"I wish I knew what happened to the clone of Sehallah." She called out.

"The space pod that held the boy was shot down by one of Frieza's ships." Shenron stated.

"Oh, well thank you." Justine called though she was disappointed.

With his task completed Shenron returned to the dragon balls and once again the sky turned to a deep shade of blue.

Mr Popo ushered them all inside for breakfast clamming that Justine must be starving. Piccolo fallowed behind without a word, his usual glower on his face (though he felt like climbing the walls) he hated not being able to speak privately with her.

Justine glance back over her shoulder at him while smiling warmly.

Once they were in the kitchen where Justine and Popo always ate breakfast she assumed comfortable position of member of the household rather then guest. She served herself and a protesting Mr. Popo who was not used to being served. Dende poured himself tea while Piccolo leaned casually against the doorframe.

"Piccolo, you coming?" Justine asked while she set a tall glass of water for him in the place beside her.

Piccolo hesitated to join in the meal yet he found himself taking his seat beside Justine. She graced him with another warm smile that cause his cheeks to flush with color. It was silly he knew but somehow that didn't matter much. She was home, and he had made it possible to bring her back, that was all that really mattered.

XxXxX

Later that day Justine was in her room changing after a long shower, when the door squeaked slightly announcing Piccolo's arrival. Justine didn't blush or attempt to cover herself, (it made no difference to her, Piccolo already knew what she looked like nude.) But he did something he had never done before, he watched her dress.

Justine told herself that she was imagining things but when she dared look up at him he did not look away. In fact it seemed as if he were challenging her to protest. She kept quiet as she finished dressing, all the while profoundly aware of his possessive regard.

"Can I help you with something?" She asked once she had finished.

He didn't reply but instead he reached down and captured one of her hands in his. Then without a word he turned and led her out of the room. He continue down the hall with her in tow as if she were a small child who needed guiding.

"Where are we going?" She asked but she didn't really think he planed to answer.

His big hand completely engulfed hers leaving no reason for her to lace her fingers with his. Her whole arm tingled when she thought of how never before had he reached for her hand. Now he held it even though there was no need; he could have just said, "come with me," and she would have fallowed him anywhere.

He didn't let go even when he took to the air, he did do so slowly so that she had time to catch up, but as soon as they were airborne he took off, griping her hand tightly in his.

Slowly Justine felt a part of her come alive with renewed hope that he might care for her, quickly she tamped it down. (Her foolish heart was building castles in the sky again.)

It seemed like they hadn't flown far at all before he began taking them down. But that could have just been because she was so busy daydreaming about the big green man who had captured her heart.

They landed in a grassy meadow that looked more like a painting then reality.

"Wow this place is beautiful." Justine found herself saying.

"Over there." Piccolo gestured for her to look behind her.

Behind her stood a small log cabin that looked like it too belonged in a painting.

"I don't get it." She found herself saying as her mind tried to wrap itself around the reason that he would be showing her this thing.

Suddenly she felt his hand push gently at the small of her back. Did he want her to go in the cabin?

She walked forward slowly then turned once to look at him just before she opened the cabin door. His face was unreadable so she pushed her way inside the small building. She expected to see dust, or smell the moldy odor of rotting wood but only the fresh scent of pine filled the air. The interior held a small kitchen area, a simple table, two chars, a fireplace, and a bed that was tucked neatly in a corner.

As she entered the house something kept bothering her about the place, something was just a little off. Her mind took in everything as she inspected it more closely. Dishes tucked away in cupboards, bright white towels folded neatly and hung on a rack, a huge trunk that when she opened it, she found that it was filled with clothes. And then it dawned on her what was wrong, everything in the house was completely unused. Though most of it looked hand made, nothing had ever seen a day of work.

Slowly she turned and stepped back outside where Piccolo waited. "Piccolo you'll have to tell me what this is all about, because I don't get it."

Piccolo had dreaded this part, where he would have to make her understand what he didn't fully understand himself.

Piccolo was unable to speak now that the time had come. He had hoped she would just look at the house and know why he had built it for her.

"It's yours." He finally rasped out.

Justine's mouth opened and closed a few times, she glanced at the house then back at him. "Mine?' She gaped.

"It's a gift." Piccolo told her.

"From you?" She asked in a breathless voice.

"Perhaps you should go back in and make sure I stocked your kitchen properly, I wasn't sure what– why are you crying?" He said suddenly when he seen tears forming in her eyes.

She didn't answer, all she could do was close the small distance between them and wrap her arms around his waist. Her tears soaked his shirtfront while she lay her head against his broad chest.

"If you don't like it.." He began but stopped when she shook her head quickly.

"No I love it!" She cried "That's why I'm so happy."

Piccolo was even more confused by her statement but he let it go, at least she'd said she liked it.

"When did you have time to build it?" She asked.

"I ah.." He paused, unsure of how much he wanted to tell her "I started working on it a few days ago while I was waiting for Dende to refashion the dragon balls."

"You did this in just a few days?" She gasped. "That's amazing"

"Nameks are natural builders." He stated as if he were embarrassed by her praise.

"Come on you have to show me everything." She said as she pulled him along behind her.

Piccolo allowed himself to simply enjoy Justine's excitement as she asked questions about the house. Now and then she would simply hold a one item or another in her hands, and turn it over and over as if it had some great importance.

"This place is just amazing." She said with a gesture of her arms, then she fell quiet and thoughtful.

Piccolo was dreading the questions in her eye's even while he watched her draw nearer. How could he tell her what he felt?

"I'm afraid if I ask too many questions, or if I say the wrong thing, I ruin this moment." She admitted while looking into his dark eyes. Just looking at him made her heart beat so fast she thought surely he could hear it.

He didn't do anything but gaze into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity, then without warning her simply grabbed her by the shoulders, lifted her off her feet and kissed her breathless. He pulled her close until her body molded to his. She needed no prompting as the kiss built, her legs found his hips and they seemed to wind around him of their own accord. Her arms embraced his neck even while her tongue slipped into his mouth.

Piccolo poured everything into his kiss, all the words that he had left unspoken, his fear of never seeing her again, and the deep need to possess her. She had become like the very breath in his lungs, or the life blood flowing through his veins, she was all that and much more to him. He wanted her with him when he closed his eyes at night and when he opened them in the morning. He wanted to be the one to make her smile, and to be there to hold her when she cried. Perhaps he couldn't give her everything she needed, but he would give her everything he had.

His kiss became gentle as he fallowed her lead, her lips nibbled his, then she kiss her way along his jawline.

"I missed you." She whispered in his ear.

Piccolo felt his heart tremble, how he had missed her and worried about her with every waking moment. He had blamed himself for the sacrifice she had made and he'd swore to bring her back.

"Someone told me that if I had asked you, you would have stayed." He told her in a husky voice.

"I'll stay for as long as you want me." She answered.

"Good." He said just before his lips found hers.

Hours later Piccolo awoke from his nap with Justine. She was curled up next to him like a kitten with her head resting on his arm. The day had come and gone and now the night cloaked the small cabin in shadow. They had made love until both their bodies and hearts were satiated and sleep claimed them. Piccolo felt a smile tug at his lips while he listened to Justine murmur in her sleep. This was what his heart had always longed for, though he would have never guessed until he met his little Justine. He had always wanted someone of his very own and now he had found her. Someday he would tell her how much she meant to him, but for now he could only show her, and hope that she would be happy.

XxXxX

Justine woke that morning with a feeling of total completion. She could sense that Piccolo was somewhere outside, so she wrapped herself in the blanket from the bed and wondered outside to meet him.

The morning was misty and cold but Justine was curious about where Piccolo had gone to. Then she spotted him coming up over a hill not far from the cabin.

"Did you go for a swim?" She asked because he was dripping wet and only wearing his pants.

"Yes there's a pond just behind those trees." He answered once he reached her.

She smiled as she watched him walk past her into the house (the house that he had built for her so they could make a life together.) That was when it occurred to her, Piccolo didn't just care about her, he loved her.

Justine fallowed him into the house and wrapped her arms around him from behind. It didn't matter if he never said the words, she would always know how he felt.

"Thank you." She whispered against his bare back.

"Are you crying again?" He asked because he could feel her warm tears.

"Only because you make me so happy." She said as he turned to hold her.

...The End...

* * *

_Wahhh I didn't want it to end but I couldn't put it off. ::Cries some more:: I enjoyed writing this fanfic sooo much, I don't know if I will ever have as much fun as I did with this one. I mean I have been writing it for over a year now._

_Well I guess every story has its end. Don't worry though, if you want to read more about Piccolo and Justine I'm sure I will find a way to write some short side stories about them. And I hope I can write one about Dende as well._

_Thank you so much for all the reviews, and please review this last chapter (it would mean so much to me.)_

_Thank you all._

_Love, Raven._


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